A Change in Plans
by raspberry dreams
Summary: Troy and Gabriella's relationship was progressing well until family obigations threw a gigantic spanner in their hopes and dreams. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A Change of Plans

By Raspberry Dreams

Disclaimer: I own no part of High School Musical except for some very worn copies of the DVD's. This story is written for my own amusement not for profit in any way. anything within the story that you recognise does not belong to me.

Chapter One

November 15

Gabriella and Troy were watching movies in Gabriella's lounge room on Friday night, but the movie though one of their favourites wasn't holding Troy's attention the way it normally would. He was sitting with his arm around Gabriella who was wearing what Troy thought of as his all time favourite dress. It was a lightweight floral material and while no more revealing than many of Gabriella's other clothes, the way it floated seemed to tease him, hinting at revealing more without doing so. He kept glancing at her enjoying the sight of her watching the movie more than the movie itself.

Troy and Gabriella had taken their relationship extremely slowly, Gabriella had never been kissed before and though Troy had been hit on by most of the cheerleaders, he'd never been interested in kissing any girl before he met Gabriella. She had changed his life opening his eyes to a whole world outside of Basketball and showed him how limited and empty his previous life had been. He wasn't going to do anything to risk his wonderful new life with Gabriella ever again.

Gabriella knew Troy better than anyone did, at first because he was a teenage boy she had expected him to want to move their physical relationship along as quickly as she would agree to, and she was grateful for his restraint, but he had made it clear to her that her comfort was extremely important to him. They had reached the stage where they could talk about almost anything and they had shared thoughts and feelings almost before admitting them to themselves. While there was very little physical intimacy between them as yet, the emotional intimacy of their relationship had increased rapidly since they got back together over the summer. They each realised that what they felt was no normal high school crush and they had begun talking of spending their lives together.

Gabriella eventually noticed Troy's abstraction, "Bored Wildcat?" she laughed, knowing the real cause of his difficulties with paying attention to the movie. Normally they kept their making out to a minimum, Gabriella's shyness and upbringing making her hesitant to go too far. Troy's declaration of love a few weeks before had given her more confidence, although she wasn't ready to share kisses in public, or when they might be interrupted (as happened far too frequently with a friend like Chad – you'd swear he had some sort of sixth sense of when to appear to be able to cause the maximum frustration and embarrassment that he did). However at the moment they were alone in the house, her mother not due home for hours and locked doors and closed curtains preventing Chad from embarrassing her. She turned off her phone then reached into Troy's pocket and grabbed his to turn off as well. Troy looked at her in surprise then smiled when he saw her blushing shyly. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her to him and kissing her softly, slowly deepening the kiss as she responded eagerly. She had just turned to straddle his lap when she heard a quiet gasp and the sound of objects falling in the hallway.

Maria Montez was tired and looking forward to a hot bath and an evening with a good book. Her last appointment had cancelled thank heavens so she was home at a reasonable time help Gabriella cook dinner for a change. She stood in the doorway looking into the lounge stunned. She had not believed Troy and Gabriella had that sort of relationship and it made her feel guilty for not telling them that their relationship had no possible future from the start.

Gabriella turned crimson and leapt of Troy's lap, smoothing her clothes and stuttering embarrassed apologies. Troy wasn't sure who she was apologising to or what exactly she was apologising for. Surely her mother wouldn't be that shocked to see them making out, they had been together eight months after all, and they were both still fully dressed.

Troy stood and tried to take Gabriella into his arms and offer comfort. She stood rigidly for a minute then hid her face in Troy's shoulder as he felt her body slowly relax. "Hi Mrs Montez" he greeted calmly.

Maria truly liked Troy he was a nice boy and she respected his actions in trying to diffuse her daughter's embarrassment. Under different circumstances she wouldn't have been upset to see this development in their relationship.

However the circumstances couldn't be changed and she now had to stop this relationship before it went any further. She intensely regretted the hurt this conversation was going to cause the two young people. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was necessary, she'd been putting it off too long already. Delaying it further was only going to increase the pain she had to cause all three of them.

"Gabi, Troy, please sit down we need to have a serious discussion and I doubt you're going to like what I have to say but I can only apologize for not telling you earlier before you both reached this stage."

Gabriella looked at her mother in confusion, her mother's words were apologizing, but the tone of her voice and her body language seemed more angry than apologetic. Gabriella hung her head and sat silently, not realizing that Maria was angry at herself not her daughter or her daughter's boyfriend.

Troy also recognizing the unusual tension in the air, sat down next to Gabriella and took her hand in his. Looking at Gabriella's mother and waiting with trepidation for whatever she was going to say.

"Gabi, Mija... I don't know how to tell you this but you're father..."

"What about Papa" Gabriella interrupted angrily "I haven't seen or heard from him in years. Why's he contacting us now? If he thinks he can just waltz back into..."

"Stop Gabi please listen to me. Your father has arranged a marriage for you. You will be getting married at Christmastime." This was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to tell anyone.

"No No No You can't" Gabriella stuttered in distress beginning to hyperventilate.

Troy sat there stunned, his mind telling him to yell and protest, to help Gabriella, to run away from this horrible thing, to deny that it could be true. He couldn't move couldn't speak couldn't even cry as terrible pains threatened to tear his heart in two."

Gabriella collapsed onto his feet, bringing Troy back to full consciousness. He joined Gabriella on the floor pushing Maria away and took her into his arms rocking her gently. "Breathe Baby please. You can do it" he whispered to her "Breathe baby come on don't stop just keep breathing, please baby I love you" Gabriella took a deep breath and started to sob. She cried and cried for what felt like hours as Troy gently rubbed her back and held her tight. Eventually she fell asleep but Troy barely noticed. Tears ran down his face at the sight of her distress and he knew at that moment that he would do anything in his power to keep from ever seeing her this upset again. He wasn't aware of Maria watching them also with tears in her eyes, or when she left leaving the two heartbroken teenagers alone in their grief.

Maria couldn't bear to watch the two of them. The way they had automatically turned to each other and the way that even in their grieving they were still aware of the other and able to attempt to offer and receive comfort from them. Realizing the depth of their caring for each other hurt her deeply because she knew she was about to destroy their relationship and it would hurt them both more than she could have imagined. She fled the room but remained within hearing distance waiting for Gabriella to calm down enough to talk.

Eventually the sound of crying stopped and Maria looked back into the room seeing her daughter sleeping in Troy's embrace. She went upstairs and fetched some blankets to make up a bed for Gabriella on the couch, before asking Troy to put her down. "No he said I won't let her go, she needs me. I'll stay 'til she wakes up."

"Troy" Maria began hesitantly, she's not yours, you have to let her go. This marriage contract is legally binding I can't stop it. You can't change it. Gabriella is getting married in 5 weeks. Continuing to spend time with you now is only going to make it harder for her to accept."

Troy turned to Maria with a look of rage. "You are telling me to stay away? I can't... I won't abandon Gabriella... Please we have to sort this out. She can't marry him. She loves me. I love her."

Maria also began to get angry, "Troy, she is seventeen, she doesn't know what true love is. She is my daughter and I want what is best for her. I believe that ending your relationship now so she has time to get over it before the wedding will be best for Gabriella in the long run. Then she can learn to love her husband and have a chance to be happy. If you don't break up until the last minute she may never give Eduardo a fair chance, and it will all be much more difficult for her." Maria said trying to reason with the devastated and angry young man.

"You really believe she'll stop loving me that quickly?" Troy asked tears filling his eyes again. "I can't believe that..." Troy broke of unable to continue.

"At this age Troy feelings seem very intense but they will fade quickly without encouragement. I have faith that Gabriella will see that trying to forget her feelings for you is the sensible thing to do" Maria said with determination. "Now put her down and go home Troy before I ring your father to collect you."

Troy might be stubborn, but he knew when he was beaten. If Maria got his father involved then Troy wouldn't get to spend any time with Gabriella even in school. He awkwardly climbed to his feet still holding Gabriella and adjusting his hold, walked out of the room towards the stairs. "She will sleep better in her own bed" he said carrying her up to her room, unfortunately forgetting Gabriella's cell phone on the coffee table.

Maria followed behind and turned down the bed for Troy to place Gabriella in. She then walked over to the French doors and locked them, removing the key. Thank you for bringing her to bed now please go home, you can speak to Gabi at school on Monday. Troy made a noise of protest and left the room. There was no way he was going to leave Gabriella alone for that long. Maria may have believed she had locked Troy out of the house but she didn't know that Gabriella had had a second key to her balcony doors cut and had given it to Troy last year when he was having trouble with his Dad and needed to know there was somewhere he would always be welcome to come and just be himself without all the pressure of being 'the basketball guy'.

Troy collected his phone and ignoring his truck began walking home realizing that he was much too upset to drive. All he could think of was Gabriella. His heart bled at seeing her in such distress, but that was nothing compared to the pain of losing her.

It took him over an hour to walk home blinded by tears and distracted by his thoughts he missed the corner he was supposed to turn at and walked almost another mile before he realised. Backtracking towards the Montez house, he wished that he had the key to the balcony door with him so he could return to Gabriella. He considered going anyway just to look through the window and see that she was okay, but reluctantly made his way home.

It was just after curfew when he arrived home but thankfully for Troy his father saw the expression on his face and decided to let it slide. He threw himself on his bed fully dressed and for the first time since he was a young child cried himself into a fitful sleep.

Troy and Gabriella weren't the only ones to cry themselves to sleep that night. Maria's heart ached for the pain she had caused her daughter. Pain which she felt was partly her fault. She should have told Gabriella about the possibility of the marriage contract when she first started dating Troy. Then Gabriella would have known to keep their friendship platonic and not to get too seriously involved. She cursed the decision she had made not to tell her daughter last year, but at the time she had thought it worthwhile to let Gabriella have some normal high school experiences, dating and school dances and a high school romance. She had thought that she had been keeping a close enough eye on Gabriella's relationship with Troy and that in spite of calling themselves boyfriend and girlfriend their feelings were more those of a close friendship and slight attraction than a serious romantic relationship. Seeing them together tonight had been a very unwelcome surprise. Not just the making out, but also the way that they had turned to each other for support and comfort and had been able to provide that support to each other even though they both were clearly devastated.

Maria hated the marriage contract her husband had signed. It had been the disagreement over this that had caused the breakdown of her own marriage and she had taken Gabriella and gone in to hiding once the legal separation had come through. She had hoped that by moving so often, sometimes without leaving a forwarding address, even sometimes spending months homeschooling Gabriella so that her school records wouldn't be forwarded each time they moved that Alejandro might not be able to find them.

When she received the notification scheduling the wedding from Alejandro's lawyers two months ago she had known that the only way to hide from him this time would be to obtain a false identity and even then she suspected that he might have men watching her to ensure he would know if she tried to run. She had considered it when she first left, but had decided that the costs were too high. Without her identity and university qualifications she would have to accept minimum wage jobs and work much longer hours to just break even. Now the consequences of that decision would have to be payed not only by herself but also Gabriella. Gabriella needed to remain at school under her own identity to be offered a place at college, and she needed a good college education to have the future she deserved. Maria had prayed every night since she got the notification that she could find some way out of that cursed contract, but though she had searched she had not yet found an acceptable alternative. That was the real reason for her hesitation in telling Gabriella, she had wanted to be able to give her daughter a way out of the contract.

Now with less than six weeks remaining Maria had lost hope and reluctantly told her daughter about the wedding. She had to give Gabriella some time to get used to the idea before she was introduced to her future husband Eduardo. If there was no way out of this marriage then she had to do her best to help Gabriella to come to terms with it. It was important for her future happiness that she made a good impression on Eduardo it would not do for the two of them to start their marriage disliking one another.


	2. Chapter 2

A Change of Plans

Chapter Two

Saturday 16 November

It was ironic that not until the morning after informing her daughter she had finally thought of a possible way out of the contract. Troy's reaction to the news had given her hope. Maria knew that Troy was the type of person that didn't let any obstacle get in the way of what was truly important to him, and she could see in his eyes the night before that he had by no means accepted that his relationship with Gabriella was over.

She didn't want to push him or Gabriella into anything they would later come to regret but if their relationship was as strong as it seemed the night before then maybe there was hope after all. She went to the courthouse first thing in the morning and obtained and signed the required documents before hiding them somewhere she thought Gabriella should be able to find it only with a concerted effort. If this was to work at all then it had to seem like she hadn't been involved in planning it.

In fact she was still in two minds whether she wanted Troy and Gabriella to find and use this solution. She didn't know if her daughter would be any better off with this solution than she would be married to Eduardo.

Eduardo was a nice boy, she'd known him and his family well before she'd left Alejandro. If it wasn't for Gabriella's feelings for Troy she believed that her daughter could be happy with him though she didn't approve of her daughter not having the freedom to choose her own husband. Eduardo had a beautiful home and a successful business. He was well respected in the community and was definitely able to take care of Gabriella financially, it was quite a good match as far as arranged marriages went Maria told herself knowing she was trying to convince herself it was true rather than actually believing it.

Troy was also a very nice boy, but he was so young, there was no guarantee that the feelings he and Gabriella had for one another would last. Most high school relationships were very short lived and she had no way to clearly tell the potential depth and longevity of their emotions. Statistically the chances of her daughter being at least moderately happy long term may be better with Eduardo no matter what short term heartache it caused. Maria then hid the document more carefully, it would now take an extreme effort for the young couple to find that there was a possible choice other than to let Gabriella marry Eduardo.

Gabriella spent the day lying in bed crying on and off. She didn't even have the energy to fight with Maria about the contract or about her having banned her from seeing Troy. Maria tried in vain to get her daughter to talk to come downstairs and eat. Gabriella refused to even talk to her mother and when Maria took food up that evening it sat on her bedside table untouched.

Gabriella lay staring at the ceiling for hours as the day and night slowly passed, almost catatonic with grief. She felt like her life was over.

Troy on the other hand had spent the day trying to work off his anger at the situation. He'd run ten miles that morning and pumped weights until all of his muscles ached. While his parents were out shopping he'd attempted to practice free throws but had been unable to sink a single basket. He collapsed beside the backyard court crying in frustration, rage and grief.

Jack and Lucille came home to find Troy lying beside the court unmoving. Thinking he'd been injured they raced over to find him sleeping with tears still running down his face. Quickly running her hands gently over his scalp searching for lumps while visually looking for signs of injury she was relieved to find nothing and to feel him stir under her touch. "I can't find anything" she whispered to her husband, "I think he's just exhausted himself."

Jack nodded and bent to place his hand on Troy's shoulder with the intent of shaking him awake.

Knowing that Troy had spent most of the night crying and had been up in the middle of the night pacing around his room Lucille shook her head and intercepted Jack's hand preventing him from waking the clearly distressed teenager. Instead she sat quietly running her hands through her son's hair hoping he would settle into peaceful sleep.

When he awoke Troy just lay there half asleep enjoying the feel of his hair being played with for a moment. Waking up fully and realising that it was his mother and not his girlfriend broke his heart all over again.

"Do you feel like talking about it?" Lucille asked gently knowing he was awake.

"No" Troy answered with a sob, refusing to look at her.

"Troy is this something I need to know whether you want to tell me or not." His mother said firmly forcing him to look at her directly.

"No Mama, I'm not in any danger or in trouble in any way" he replied in an emotionally deadened voice.

"Promise me Troy" Lucille demanded unconvinced.

Troy rolled his eyes half-heartedly "I promise Mama, I'm not in trouble, I haven't broken the law, I'm not about to be expelled or kicked off the team. I'm not sick or hurt. There's nothing you can fix this time Mama."

Lucille backed off now she knew that Troy was alright other than being upset. "You're sure there's nothing I can do?" She asked trying to talk calmly.

"No"

"Is there anything anyone can do to fix this?" she asked hesitantly.

"No"

Troy's monosyllables and avoidance of her gaze finally convinced his mother to leave him be, he clearly wasn't going to tell her what the matter was. She slowly got to her feet "Please Troy if there's anything you need you will let me know wont you?"

Troy didn't answer, and his mother stood there hesitating unsure what else to say, Troy gave no indication that he noticed her standing there so she sighed and slowly returned to the house where Jack stood in the doorway waiting. She shook her head, silently telling him that she didn't know what had upset their son.

Troy pulled his cell-phone out of his pocket and hesitated before dialling Gabriella's number. He'd been calling her all day and she hadn't responded at all. Troy was hoping that the lack of response meant that her mother had confiscated her phone to prevent them from talking. The idea of Gabriella not wanting to talk to him nearly made him physically ill. Sighing he returned the phone to his pocket without calling, maybe if Mrs Montez had Gabriella's phone she would give it back to Gabriella if she thought he'd given up calling.

Taylor frowned as she hung up the telephone. She had called Gabriella that morning trying to organise to get together that day. They hadn't spent much time lately just hanging out, between classes and college applications, the yearbook committee and her student body president duties Taylor had been incredibly busy these past few weeks. But today her homework was all done and the family commitments she'd had had fallen through she wanted to relax and catch up with her best friend.

Her best friend who wasn't answering her calls.

Taylor was annoyed, it really wasn't like Gabriella to be so rude and thoughtless, unless she and Troy were enjoying some alone time but Taylor didn't believe that their relationship would actually reach that point for quite a while yet the pace things were progressing. Thinking her friend may be having trouble with her cell phone she decided to call the house.

"Hi Mrs Montez, this is Taylor, may I please speak with Gabriella?"

"Oh Hello Taylor, Gabriella isn't too well. I'll go up and see if she's awake and feeling like talking. Excuse me for a moment." Gabriella's mother said putting the phone down and going upstairs to Gabriella's room.

"Gabi, Taylor's on the telephone" Maria said softly.

Gabriella lay there ignoring her mother.

Thinking she was asleep Maria gave Gabriella's shoulder a gentle shake "Gabi, Mija, wake up, Taylor's on the phone for you."

"I don't want to talk to anyone" Gabriella answered listlessly.

"Gabriella please, you need to get up and out of this room. Go down and talk to your friend. It will make you feel better. You're only making yourself more depressed by lying here doing nothing, feeling sorry for yourself." Maria tried to encourage Gabriella to act.

"No, I can't talk to her yet. I need time to think this through" Gabriella protested.

"What's to think through? You will finish the semester with your friends, graduate early and then we go to Cuba for Christmas and the wedding" Maria said plainly.

"And my life ends" Gabriella concluded. "I need time to come to terms with that before I face everyone."

"Stop being so melodramatic. Your life isn't ending. Now come downstairs and speak with Taylor. She's waiting for you." Maria said exasperated.

"No, I can't" Gabriella said stubbornly not making any attempt to get up. "The life I know is ending. Nothing will ever be the same again."

Maria hesitated then left the room angrily.

"Hello Taylor, Gabriella's not feeling well enough to come to the phone right now. She will call you later."

"Thank you Mrs Montez. I'm sorry for disturbing you" replied Taylor as politely as she could. She was a little puzzled. Clearly Gabriella hadn't been asleep because her mother had been gone to long not to have had a conversation with her, and Mrs Montez had sounded upset when she returned, almost angry. Either Gabriella was very sick indeed or she had refused to come to the phone or had an argument with her mother and not been allowed to speak with her. Each of these possibilities seemed equally unlikely. Taylor didn't like being kept out of the loop like this. She decided to keep trying Gabriella's cell and hopefully get an answer. In the mean time she called Martha and Kelsi to see if either of them was interested in a trip to the mall.

At nine thirty that night Troy asked his parent's permission to go out for a bit. He jogged over to Gabriella's and carefully tried to let himself into the back yard. Fortunately he remembered that he hadn't fixed the hinges on the gate leading to the back yard recently and it would make too much noise to open. He reached into his back pack and lubricated the hinges with cooking spray he'd liberated from his mother's kitchen last year and kept hidden in his room for this purpose. He knew that the spray wouldn't fix the hinges for anywhere near as long as proper metal lubricants could, but didn't want to risk Mrs Montez noticing the distinctive smell of WD40. Holding his breath in anxiety he slowly opened the gate and entering the yard closed it behind him.

He made his way up the tree to Gabriella's balcony being extra careful to make sure he didn't make any noise. He climbed over the railing onto the balcony and tiptoed over to peek thought the French doors to see if Gabriella was in there alone.

Maria was standing beside the bed with her back to the window and Troy quickly moved out of sight leaning against the wall of the house. He could hear Maria speaking.

"Gabriella you must eat something. Please Mija, don't do this. It won't be so bad. Eduardo is a good man, and you really liked him the summer we spent in Cuba."

Gabriella just lay looking at the wall choosing not to respond in any way to her mother's comments. There was no point, her mother wouldn't listen to her arguments when she'd tried earlier anyway.

Troy was upset that Gabriella didn't argue about the upcoming marriage. He snuck a quick look through the window and saw that Gabriella was lying facing away from him and thought that maybe he hadn't heard whatever she had said but then realised that her mother was acting like she hadn't heard anything either.

"I'll leave these here in case you feel like eating later then" Maria said putting a plate and bottle on the bedside table before walking to the window and closing the curtains, almost giving Troy a heart attack.

He froze and luckily Maria failed to notice him standing outside on the balcony in the dark.

Minutes passed and Troy realised that he had no way of telling whether Gabriella's mother had left the room until he saw the light from her bedroom come on. As quietly as he could he took the key from around his neck and unlocked Gabriella's French doors and stepped into the room hoping that Gabriella was not getting changed. And that she would be happy to see him.

Gabriella was still lying facing the wall and either hadn't heard him come in or was pretending that she hadn't. Not wanting to startle her Troy softly called her name.

Gabriella rolled over to face him with a look of astonishment on her face. She jumped up and threw herself into his arms.

"Troy how on earth did you get here?" she asked.

"You gave me a key last year." He reminded her holding up the key which he then slipped back over his head and tucked it into his shirt.

"Oh! I forgot about that."

"You forgot something!?" Troy said half teasingly half worried. Gabriella never forgot anything normally.

Gabriella didn't answer but buried her face in his chest and hugged him as if she'd never let him go.

"I didn't think you'd want to come back" she said uncertainly.

"Gabriella?" Troy cupped her face with his hand gently pulling it up so he could look into her eyes. The sadness he saw there made his heart ache.

"I tried to ring you all day but you've had your phone turned off. Your Mum told me last night that I wasn't allowed to see you outside of school, otherwise I would have been here before this."

"I haven't seen my phone all day I think Mum has it. She said you'd told her that you agreed that it would be best not to see each other anymore so I'd have a chance to get over you before the w-we-wedding" Gabriella sobbed starting to cry.

"No, she told me that it would be best for both of us if I didn't see you anymore but I refused to agree. She threatened to ring Mom and Dad if I didn't leave. So I went but I love you Gabriella, I want you in my life forever even if we can only be friends." Troy tried to reassure his distraught girlfriend.

"You're breaking up with me?" she wailed.

"SHHH! I don't want to break up, but how can I date someone else's wife? The way I see it I can be your boyfriend until you get married or I can be your best friend for as long as you want me to be. I mean it when I say that I love you Baby and I want to be with you, but if I can't I don't want to lose your friendship as well" Troy told her sadly.

"You will lose me either way, Troy. I won't be coming back to Albuquerque after the wedding. Mum's being transferred again too so I won't even be able to visit" Gabriella told him sadly.

Troy sighed plopping down onto the bed with Gabriella still in his arms. "What are we going to do then?" he asked dejectedly.

"I don't know Troy. I want to be with you. Please don't break up with me" Gabriella begged.

"Oh baby!" Troy said kissing her ardently. "I love you."

Gabriella kissed him back more passionately than normal and they lay there kissing for quite some time.

"Make love to me" Gabriella asked breathlessly.

Troy sat up suddenly inadvertently almost pushing Gabriella off his lap. "What!?" he croaked.

"Please Troy make love to me. I want you to be the first" she pleaded.

"Gabriella?" Troy breathed.

"Please Troy"

"We need to think this through properly." Troy said though part of him was kicking himself for not taking her up on that offer.

"You don't want to?" Gabriella asked incredulously, hurt by his rejection.

"Baby please. This is too big a thing to do on the spur of the moment. There are good reasons we haven't had sex before this" Troy reminded her.

Gabriella started to cry again.

"Baby please don't cry" Troy begged. I'm not saying no I just want to be sure you've considered all the reasons not to do this first."

"What reasons Troy?" Gabriella asked almost angrily.

"Well for starters I don't have any protection. And your mum's in the next room if she caught us she'll tell mum and dad and they'll make sure we don't see each other again." Troy listed his biggest concerns.

Gabriella slumped in Troy's arms "You're right she conceded sadly.

"That doesn't mean that we can't though, just not here now. I'll buy something tomorrow and we could find a place to be alone in the next week or so if you truly still want to, but I think you should really think about it carefully. This guy your dad has set you up to marry will probably be angry if you aren't a virgin. He might treat you better if we don't..."

"I don't care I want my first time to be for love" Gabriella argued.

Troy sighed "But would it really be for love Gabriella? I mean we've never even really fooled around and if we had sex now it would be out of desperation and anger that we're about to be separated not because we really feel that we are ready to take that step in our relationship. I love you and I know you love me, but you're not choosing to have sex because you love me. You're choosing to do it because you're angry, and scared." Part of him couldn't believe he was trying to talk her out of this.

"You really don't want to make love to me?" Gabriella asked devastated.

Troy gave her a disbelieving look "Gabriella I'm a teenage boy in love with one of the hottest girls in the world. Of course I want to make love. I've known for a long time that I wanted you to be my first when we were ready, and I'd hoped you'd be my only. But I just want what's best for you. I would hate myself if he punished you for making love with me, or used the fact that we had been lovers to prevent you from seeing me after you married him." Troy begged her to understand.

"Maybe you're right, but I want at least once in my life to make love with someone I truly love and who really loves me instead of a man who arranged a marriage contract with me to improve his career opportunities" Gabriella said stubbornly.

"If you still feel that way next September, and if I'm still the person you love then I'll come and visit you one weekend at Stanford and we can make love then" Troy compromised.

"You promise?"

"I promise I'll come wherever you are and do whatever you want. If you want to make love we will, if you just need a friend then I'll be the best friend that I can be. I love you Gabriella" Troy said hugging her tightly

"Okay but I don't want to break up yet. I want to spend as much time with you as possible before we leave" Gabriella demanded, deciding not to tell him that she didn't know if she would be going to Stanford.

"That I am happy to do. I love you Gabriella and I'm going to miss you like crazy."

Tears ran down his face as Gabriella began sobbing again and he held her tightly rubbing his hand up and down her back trying to give her comfort as he cried with her. They sat like this for about an hour before Troy remembered that his parents knew that he was out and would be expecting him home. He offered to sneak out again and come back later but Gabriella told him not to. She knew Troy was exhausted and wanted him to stay home and sleep, and didn't want to risk having her mother hear him coming and going. She was already sleepy and thought that she would probably be able to sleep now that they'd talked. She promised to call him from the house phone if she couldn't sleep and he would come straight over, then he quickly kissed her goodbye and left locking the French doors behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

A Change of Plans

Chapter Three

Sunday 17th November

Not having heard from his best mate all day Saturday, Chad turned up at the Bolton's for breakfast Sunday morning before Troy had got out of bed.

"Hey Coach, what's up" He said as he grabbed an extra plate out of the cupboard and helped himself to some of Troy's breakfast.

"Good morning Chad" Lucille said smiling at her son's friend "Did Troy ask you to come 'round?" she asked him.

"Morning Mrs B." Chad replied grinning "No I haven't heard from him since Friday so I came to see if he wanted to hang out, maybe play some one-on-one." Chad's frivolous words were belied by the concerned frown on his face. He and Troy often didn't see each other every day outside of school especially now that they both had girlfriends, but normally they would have at least a couple of text conversations throughout the day. Chad had sent Troy at least half a dozen messages and it wasn't like Troy not to have answered.

Jack frowned and Lucille sighed as they heard Chad's answer. "Well you better go up and wake him" Lucille said quietly "I don't know if he'll come down otherwise."

"What happened?" Chad asked.

"We don't exactly know" Jack answered slowly. "He came home from Gabriella's on Friday night looking like the world had ended. He won't tell us what's going on but she's not answering his calls. He went around there last night and he was gone several hours so I think they talked, but it didn't seem to do much good."

Chad frowned, he frequently teased Troy about being totally whipped by Gabriella but in reality he had to accept the fact that his best mate was totally in love with his girlfriend and if they'd broken off their relationship it would destroy him. He hurried up the stairs to speak to his friend expecting to have to tip the mattress over to wake him.

Chad burst into Troy's room without knocking as he'd done thousands of times before. Troy wasn't sleeping he was sitting up leaning against the bed head staring at the opposite wall blankly. He showed no signs of having noticed his friends entrance and didn't respond when Chad began to speak.

"Hey man! S'up!" Chad asked loudly.

Troy looked towards him and Chad took a step back shocked by the agony in Troy's eyes. "You okay Bro" he mentally kicked himself for his stupidity of course Troy was not anywhere near okay. Chad walked over and sat on the bed "Troy, what's up man?" he asked gently this time. "Is it Gabster? Did you break up?"

"No"

"Well did you have a fight then?"

"No"

"But Gab's the problem, right?" Chad asked confused. Coach and Mrs B were sure whatever had gone wrong had happened during his date with Gabriella on Friday.

Troy sighed heavily, "Yeah... No... Not exactly."

"What happened Troy?"

"I can't tell you" Troy said flatly. He wanted to tell his friend but it really wasn't his story to tell and Gabriella hadn't decided if she wanted her friends to know yet so Troy couldn't say anything.

"Can't or won't?" Chad demanded.

"Can't" Troy said uncompromisingly. He didn't offer an explanation but the tone of his voice made Chad drop the subject.

"Get your lazy arse downstairs I'm gonna whip your but" stated Chad throwing his ever present basketball at Troy.

Troy automatically caught the ball as it bounced off his chest, looking surprised to see it. He wasn't however as shocked as Chad was having just watched his captain fail to catch the ball before it hit him. Chad was even more surprised to see Troy shaking his head as he threw the basketball back. "Not today Chad" he said quietly.

Chad nodded and said "I'll be downstairs for a bit if you change your mind" before leaving.

Jack and Lucille both looked up hopefully as they heard Chad coming down the stairs, their faces fell seeing him enter the room alone and pull up a seat instead of heading out to the court to warm up.

"He doesn't wanna play" Chad said worriedly.

"Did he tell you what's upsetting him?" asked Lucille.

"No he said he couldn't tell me. It's something to do with Gabriella but he said they didn't fight or break up" Chad sighed.

"Do you think I should call Maria, and see if she knows what's going on with these two?" Lucille asked

"What makes you think Gabriella's upset too?" Jack asked surprised.

"Troy's phone has been on the counter since lunchtime yesterday and she hasn't called once" Lucille replied gesturing to the cell phone sitting in the charger.

"It might be turned off" Chad suggested hopefully.

"No I've heard it ring several times, but I haven't heard Gabriella's ringtone at all."

"That's not good" Chad muttered. "And it doesn't make any sense. If they're not fighting then why aren't they talking to each other?"

After a few minutes thought he said "I don't think you should go behind Troy's back to talk to Mrs Montez, if she tells Gabriella about it then Gab will tell Troy. You don't want to break his trust like that."

"Yes you're right I should make more of an effort to find out from Troy first." She turned to her husband "You'll see them at school tomorrow. Keep your eye out to see how they act toward each other" she instructed.

Jack just nodded "you'll tell me if you find out anything you think we should know?" he asked Chad giving him a firm look. He knew that as coach he had quite a lot of influence over Troy's friends even though Chad would be reluctant to betray his friend, loyalty to the team wouldn't allow him to hide any major problems.

Surprisingly to Jack if not Lucille, Chad shook his head, "Unless it's something urgent I'll try to get Troy to tell you first" he reminded his coach that he was Troy's friend first and foremost and wouldn't betray him unnecessarily.

Chad finished eating the breakfast Troy hadn't come down for then left "Thanks for breakfast Mrs B. See ya Coach. Tell Troy to call me if he wants to play. I'll probably be at the park with Jason and Zeke" he said slightly sadly. Chad, Jason and Zeke were very good friends but it was Troy their captain that held the group together.

Lucille quickly made a second breakfast for Troy, the first having been eaten by his ever ravenous best friend, and took the plate upstairs. She knocked lightly on the door and not hearing an answer slowly opened it calling out to Troy that she was coming in.

She placed the plate on the bedside table and sat on the side of the bed. Troy ignored her.

"Troy, look at me honey" Lucille entreated.

Troy reluctantly looked up and Lucille's heart ached to see the pain in his eyes.

"I know you said that there's nothing I can do but sometimes it helps just to talk a problem through, share the burden so to speak" she coaxed.

"I can't mum, it's not just my problem to share" Troy said knowing his mother's mind would make the leap to Gabriella and asking her to respect their privacy.

Lucille drew her breathe in sharply in shock. "She's not in trouble is she? Please tell me she's not..."

"No mum! Of course not!" Troy protested.

"Troy" Lucille questioned sternly.

"Mum No she's not pregnant! I wish that was all it was." Troy huffed throwing himself back on the bed and rolling away from her. "You have so little faith in me?" he said hurt by his mother's suspicions.

"I'm sorry honey, but I had to ask. I'll leave you in peace" Lucille said as she got up and walked towards the door. Before closing it she poked her head back in and begged "I know you're upset but please try to eat something."

Troy ignored her and stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep.

It was late Sunday afternoon when Troy realised that he couldn't put off going to collect his truck any longer. He would need it for school in the morning. So he headed over to the Montez house ostensibly to pick up the truck but also hoping that Gabriella's mother would let him talk to Gabriella.

As he stood on the Montez' doorstep more nervous than any other time he'd been there, he was reminded of the first time he'd stood in that position hoping to be able to apologise to Gabriella and fix their relationship. The problems he was facing now were far more serious but so too was his determination to have Gabriella in his life. He knew that seeing her married to another man would be incredibly painful. But Gabriella wasn't just his girlfriend, she was also the best friend he'd ever had, the one person in his life that he could be completely himself around and know whatever he was feeling could be shared honestly without fear of judgement, and he couldn't bear the thought of losing her. If friendship was all Gabriella was able to offer him in the long run then he would hold onto that friendship with all that he had no matter how much it hurt him.

The following scene played similarly to the way it had the first time but with a few significant differences Troy knocked on that door. Maria Montez opened the door without smiling and refused to let him in to see Gabriella. The biggest difference this time was that she didn't hesitate or check behind her to get Gabriella's opinion. She told Troy clearly that he was no longer welcome to visit Gabriella and that her daughter was not allowed to continue her relationship with Troy. She tried to impress on Troy that the kindest thing he could do for Gabriella now was to let her go without causing a fuss. That no matter how well meant his intentions any attempt to continue their relationship would only cause pain and hardship.

Maria had difficulty maintaining her firm stand against letting Troy visit when she saw the pain that her words caused him, pain that was matched by the pain in her daughter's eyes when she turned after shutting the door to see her daughter standing at the foot of the stairs. Gabriella stared at her mother for a moment then without saying anything turned and returned to her room.

Maria sighed, the anger Gabriella had momentarily displayed when she shut the door on Troy was the first sign of animation her daughter had exhibited since Troy had left on Friday night.

Taylor thought about calling Gabriella again on Sunday but she still wasn't answering her cell phone and Taylor was fairly sure something had been going on when she called the house on Saturday. She didn't want to get Gabriella in trouble or to push in where she wasn't wanted. She resolved to corner Gabriella and ask for an explanation at school the following morning. She was also angry with her friend for blowing her off like that the day before and after the fifth unanswered call to her cell decided that it was Gabriella who should make the next move if she valued their friendship.

Late that night Troy returned and let himself in quietly via the balcony. This time Gabriella was sitting facing the French doors clearly waiting for him and jumped up to hug and kiss him as soon as he arrived. Troy returned her kisses ardently for a while before pulling back to allow their hormones to calm down before they got too carried away to remember the need to be quiet.

"I tried to come and see you when I picked up my truck" Troy said sadly "Your Mum wouldn't even let me in the door."

"I know Troy. I came down the stairs when I heard you, she knew I wanted to see you" Gabriella confessed.

"Did I do the wrong thing in trying? She won't keep you out of school to keep us apart will she?" Troy asked, panicking.

"I don't think so. East High has attendance requirements to pass all of their classes so if she pulls me out of school now without transferring me then I'll automatically fail all my classes for the semester. I couldn't get into any decent college let alone Stanford if she does that. And it's too late in the semester to transfer because different schools have different requirements for their curriculum, Mum knows that I've had enough trouble catching up to them when I've been transferred in the middle of semester in the past, it'd be near impossible this close to the end of the semester." Gabriella said having already thought about this after Troy's failed attempt to visit.

Troy's face showed his confusion, never having transferred schools he'd never thought about the academic difficulties involved.

"Take English for example, a different school would have studied different books, and I would need to learn all of them to pass finals, or possibly a different time period in History, a different curriculum in the mathematics and science subjects. It could be nearly as hard as having to redo the whole semester in some subjects. There's just not enough time to do that much work and maintain my grade point average." Gabriella explained.

Troy nodded "So your mum knows this then?" he asked.

"Yes Troy she knows. Normally when we move mid semester she's hired tutors to help me catch up. She won't transfer me now." Gabriella reassured him.

"Has your Mum given your phone back yet?" Troy asked.

"No, though I hope she will tomorrow, there's not much point her keeping it if we're together at school anyway." Gabriella answered.

"I brought you this just in case" Troy said pulling out his old phone. He'd been given a new iphone for as an early birthday present from his parents when the display on his old phone started playing up. "The display doesn't always work right but I've programmed myself in as contact one, so you'll be able to call me even if you can't see the display. I got you a prepaid card, let me know when you need more credit and I'll take care of it" he added sheepishly.

"Oh Troy you didn't need to do that" Gabriella said hugging him happily.

"Yeah I did. I feel better when I know you can contact me if you need me. I've set it to vibrate so don't leave it on the bedside table or it will make too much noise."

"I'll put it under my pillow" Gabriella promised.

They sat there holding each other silently, not knowing what to say. Neither wanted to talk about anything to do with Gabriella getting married or leaving East High, but they also couldn't talk about plans for their futures either since Gabriella wouldn't be at school next semester, and they didn't know where she would be or when they would be able to get together again.

Troy slipped out about 1 am after Gabriella had fallen asleep. He slowly walked home not sure what to do next. He knew that he wanted to be with Gabriella for as long as he could. But maybe Gabriella's mum was right maybe spending the next few weeks together would just make being separated hurt for that much longer. Maybe she was right but even as he thought it through Troy knew that he didn't care. He couldn't give Gabriella up while he had a choice no matter how much it would hurt him in the end. He was incapable of cutting her out of his life.


	4. Chapter 4

A Change of Plans

Chapter Four

Monday 18th November

Gabriella got up early Monday morning eager to return to school and pretend her life hadn't changed beyond all recognition since she last saw her friends. She dressed in her favourite jeans and red shirt and hurried down to eat breakfast hoping to avoid her mother. She didn't want to rehash the argument with her mother about not seeing Troy and thought that if she had to hear her extolling the virtues of Eduardo again she would scream.

Maria had apologized for signing the contract but she didn't seem anywhere near upset enough about it in Gabriella's opinion. Her mother was acting as if this was no worse than announcing another transfer. As if being forced into marriage was similar to moving house and starting a new school instead of being the death of all her hopes and dreams. Gabriella couldn't cope with any more of that at the moment. She was afraid of what she would say to her mother if she truly lost control and blurted out all the anger and hatred she was feeling.

Maria walked into the kitchen just as Gabriella was reaching for a second helping of cereal not having eaten for most of the weekend she was starving. Unfortunately her appetite abandoned her as soon as her mother said good morning. She pushed away from the table and left the room ignoring her mother's protests.

Normally Troy picked Gabriella up each morning but they'd discussed it the night before and realized that Gabriella would not be allowed to ride with Troy and they were afraid that seeing Troy come to the house to pick her up might make Gabriella's mother decide not to let her go to school at all. Troy had tried to talk Gabriella into meeting him around the corner from the house but Gabriella suspected that even if her mother did not actually drive her to school she would be watching through the front windows to make sure Gabriella got on to the school bus. Therefore Gabriella gathered her things together and without saying goodbye to her mother went outside to wait for the bus.

Maria heard the front door close and hurried into the lounge from where she could see the road outside. She was relieved not to see Troy's dilapidated white truck sitting there waiting. She quickly grabbed her keys ignored the half eaten breakfast, cooling cup of coffee and the mess in the kitchen, let herself out of the house and asked Gabriella to get in to the car.

"I'd rather take the bus thanks" said Gabriella stubbornly.

"It wasn't a request Gabriella; get into the car so that we can discuss the new rules I have for you on the way to school" Maria said firmly.

Gabriella sighed and got into the car silently and sat determinedly looking out the passenger window.

"Firstly, you are to have no contact with Troy outside of school hours. You are never to be alone with him and I want you to keep your social interaction to the essential minimum only. You are to come home on the bus directly after classes finish. If you and Taylor need to work together on a project she can come here to do it. You are to maintain your grades and concentrate on your classes. You are not to sign up for any new extracurricular activities and I want you to resign from any activities that will not be completed this semester. Is that understood?"

Gabriella sat silently refusing to answer.

"Gabriella either you agree to these new rules or I will take you out of school and you can finish the semester by correspondence."

"Fine I will come straight home and become a hermit. I will give up my life and my friends" Gabriella answered melodramatically.

"Gabriella..." her mother started.

"No mum that is exactly what you are asking. Withdraw from all school activities, not allowed to hang out with friends outside of school, and avoid Troy who as you know hangs out with my friends between classes. All of my friends are Troy's friends too" Gabriella said angrily.

Maria wanted to argue but had to admit the truth of her daughter's statement. Troy was one of the group and avoiding him meant staying away from all of their friends. "Don't take that tone with me" she said tiredly starting the car.

Maria knew that most of her anger was actually directed at herself, she felt incredibly guilty for having signed the contract that forced her beloved daughter into this situation, even more so for not recognising that Gabriella's relationship with Troy would make things this much harder. In hindsight Maria realised that she should have discouraged Gabriella's friendship with the boy, but it had seemed harmless at the time and she never expected it to last this long let alone become so serious.

Gabriella returned her attention to the window and the journey to school passed in silence.

Maria pulled out of the school parking lot after Gabriella had got out without saying goodbye, hoping that she was doing the right thing in banning Gabriella from seeing Troy. She could see the young couple possibly responding in several different ways. Either they would agree that breaking up straight away was for the best (meaning they did not feel as deeply for each other as they thought they did) disagree with her reasons but abide by the ban (in which case their relationship wasn't strong enough to survive the stresses of a teenage marriage) or they would find ways to defy her and still see each other. If their defiance was caused through an inability in each of them to live without the other then she hoped they found the paperwork and chose to use it. If their defiance was merely rebelliousness then she expected that they would spend as much time together as they could but would be unlikely to look for the contract and therefore wouldn't come across the paperwork she'd hidden for them to find. Even if they did find the forms then she thought Troy would be unlikely to be willing to make such a huge commitment unless he were truly in love. She prayed that only if they were destined to be together would they find the contract and have the courage to go through with an elopement, and that it would all work out for the best somehow.

As soon as her mother's car left the car park Troy ran up to Gabriella and wrapped his arms around her in a quick hug. Knowing that she was uncomfortable with public displays of affection he didn't attempt to kiss her but released her after a moment and took her hand as they walked towards the rest of the gang.

The group other than Taylor smiled and called out to her as she approached until they came close enough to see her expression. "Jeez Gabs not you too" Chad exclaimed as he saw her looking just as upset as his captain.

"Gabriella! What's wrong?" asked Martha and Kelsi concerned for their friend.

"You look like someone died" commented Jason earning himself a slap on the back of the head from the people next to him on either side.

"Gabriella what's happened. Is there anything I can do?" Taylor asked forgetting her earlier annoyance with her best friend.

Gabriella sighed "No there's nothing anyone can do. It's something I have to work through myself."

Taylor looked disappointed "Alright then I'll respect that but remember I'm here if you need me."

"We all are" Kelsi added and the rest of the group nodded.

"We're here for you Gabs" Chad said slinging his arm around her shoulders for a moment.

"Thanks guys. That means a lot." she smiled tightly trying not to cry. She was pleased to have their support but it drove home what she would be giving up.

"We best head in before Darbus gives us detention" Troy said changing the subject to take the attention off his clearly overwhelmed girlfriend.

The girls took the hint and they all headed inside talking about their plans for the coming week.

Wednesday 20th November

Days passed in a haze of grief, Troy and Gabriella spent as much time together as they possibly could without Maria's knowledge. Not talking or working, studying or thinking, just sitting with Troy's arms around Gabriella, holding each other as tightly as they could. Neither noticed when they held on too tight and actually left bruises, the emotional pain blocking out everything else. Both had broken down and cried frequently both together and when alone.

As hard as both were trying to put on a brave front in public it was obvious to everyone that something serious was wrong, and their friends closed ranks around them protecting them from outsiders even if Troy and Gabriella didn't seem to notice. Taylor had tried to talk to Gabriella one day when they were alone before calculus, and Chad and the boys had all approached Troy both individually and as a team. Neither was talking at all, not to each other and not to their friends or anyone else. At a total loss, the Wildcats could only wait for Troy or Gabriella to explain, or for things to get better.

Jack was seriously worried about his son. He seemed to have lost all interest in Basketball, school, his friends and life in general. Contrary to his wife's belief his concern wasn't primarily for the competitiveness of his team in the upcoming season or his son's chances of obtaining a basketball scholarship. He attempted to talk to Troy several times both at home and after practice without success. Troy would apologise for not playing well and promise to try harder but he would not explain what was upsetting him.

Jack was actually even more upset by these apologies, he was horrified to think that his son saw him as such a hard taskmaster that Troy could truly believe that he cared more about how well his son played Basketball and not his personal problems. Jack tried several times to get his son to open up, before asking his wife if she knew what was going on.

Lucille hadn't had any more luck getting Troy to talk than her husband had, but normally being far more observant than her basketball obsessed husband pointed out that Troy's withdrawal and sad mood began at the same time as Gabriella stopped visiting the house. Surprisingly Jack had noticed this, however he disagreed that Troy and Gabriella could have fought or broken up, this was one of the first things he had thought of but concluded that couldn't be the problem because he had often seen the pair together at school virtually joined at the hip as they usually were.

"So they haven't had a falling out. That is the only thing I could think of that would upset him this much. What about the boys, are he and Chad, Zeke and Jason getting along?"

"They haven't fought that I'm aware of they are very supportive of their captain but they've seemed to be worried about Troy too. I don't think they know what's wrong either."

"And does Gabriella seem worried about Troy too?" Lucille asked.

"Well Gabriella's certainly not happy but no I don't think she's worried about Troy it's more like whatever is wrong is affecting her just as much if not more" said Jack thinking back over the times he'd seen the young couple together recently. "I'd say Troy is worried about Gabriella, but it seems to be more than that too. They both still seem to be happiest when they're together."

"Do you think she's unwell?" Lucille asked worried.

"No she participates in gym like normal. She may have lost a little weight and she seems distracted a lot of the time but she doesn't appear to be sick. And if she was seriously ill I would probably have been informed." Jack reassured Lucille.

"Do you think you could ask her what's wrong?" Lucille suggested.

"I have tried; she said that she didn't feel comfortable talking to me without Troy being present. And Troy won't let me even ask her anything when he's there" Jack replied.

Lucille thought for a moment "What about Gabriella's friends?"

Jack thought for a moment remembering what he'd witnessed over the last week "The girls all seem worried too but the whole gang have all closed rank around her and Troy. None of them will say anything even if they know what is going on." He added thoughtfully "And I don't think that they do know anything, they're acting very protective but they don't seem to be hiding anything like they would if there was some secret they were trying to keep from my attention."

"So if Troy and Gabriella haven't fought and are still together all the time at school, why hasn't Gabriella visited Troy lately?"

"Well he's been out more recently than normal so I guess he's been spending more time at Gabriella and Maria's. Maybe whatever's wrong has something to do with Maria?"

"Should I give her a call?" Lucille asked hesitantly. She didn't want Troy or Gabriella to feel she was sticking her nose into their relationship.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. Invite them both over for dinner or something" Jack suggested.

"That's a good idea. I miss having Gabriella around; it's nice to have someone who doesn't want to talk basketball all the time."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Thursday 21st November

Lucille called Maria at work the following morning and after exchanging messages finally got through just after lunch. She was relieved to find the other woman was not on sick leave. The conversation however did little to relieve her anxieties. Maria had sounded friendly enough though she seemed a little more distant and tense than normal and had declined an invitation to dinner explaining that she was very busy with work and already had plans for the upcoming weekend.

When Lucille mentioned missing seeing Gabriella around the house Maria expressed her disappointment that she hadn't seen Troy lately either, but that given how busy her daughter had been lately with all of her school activities she couldn't be surprised that the young couple had little time available to spend together.

This surprised Lucille who had been under the impression that Troy had spent quite a lot of time at Gabriella's lately. Luckily for Troy and Gabriella Lucille was interrupted by the entrance of a customer before she could express her surprise.

As soon as the customer left with an appointment to view several properties the next day, Lucille called Jack.

"I called Maria" she said

"Oh and what did she have to say?" asked Jack slightly alarmed by the worried tone in his wife's voice.

"She says that she hasn't seen Troy at all lately and thinks that their relationship is petering out" Lucille stated flatly.

"But that means that Troy isn't spending his time over at their house" Jack said also concerned.

"Well he hasn't actually told us that that's where he's been. We just assumed it was" Lucille said trying to avoid Jack's temper.

"Yeah, where has he been though?" Jack asked concerned.

They both stopped to consider alternative reasons Troy had been out so much lately. Jack had ruled out the possibility that Troy was hanging out with the team, which left his drama buddies who Jack knew less well.

"I still think he's probably been with Gabriella" Lucille said hesitantly "He's been arriving home here at about the same time that Maria normally would get home so maybe she just hasn't seen him. Or maybe they've been spending time together somewhere else."

"You think he's deliberately avoiding Maria?" Jack asked.

"That isn't like him. He and Maria normally get along quite well" Lucille said knowing that Troy genuinely liked Gabriella's mother and even willingly helped her with odd jobs at times. It was slightly annoying after she'd been nagging Jack and Troy to mow the lawn for days to hear that Troy had mown Maria's lawn instead without being asked.

"Yeah but she didn't just say she hadn't seen him, she thought Gabriella hadn't been spending much time with him either and we know that at school at least they're still inseparable" Jack said confused.

"And she didn't seem to want to get involved in trying to sort out the problem like I would have expected she would if Gabriella has been anywhere near as upset as Troy has lately" Lucille added.

"You think she might be the problem?" Jack asked surprised.

"I don't know what Troy could have done to cause Maria to not want him spending time with Gabriella. Or what Maria could have done to make Troy want to avoid her?" Lucille said baffled.

Though he didn't want to tell Lucille, Jack could think of several reasons that a girl's mother would suddenly stop approving of her daughter spending time with a teenage boyfriend. But he hadn't thought Troy and Gabriella had that sort of relationship. At least not until very recently he corrected himself, something's changed between them and I would be naive if I didn't admit that sex was a possibility.

"Well if Maria and Gabriella were fighting Troy might have been trying to stay out of the way, and Maria might not have wanted to admit that to us" Jack said hopefully.

"Should we ask Troy about it?" asked Lucille.

"Only if you can do it without being too confrontational. And I wouldn't admit that you rang Maria, make it sound like you just ran into her at the mall or somewhere" Jack said.

"And what if Gabriella tells him differently?" Lucille asked her husband sceptically.

Jack thought for a moment "I doubt she will hear about it. If Maria and Gabriella are having problems than Maria is not likely to be gossiping with her daughter especially if their argument is about Troy, then I would think the last thing she would do would be to bring up his name and risk setting off another argument."

Late that night Troy climbed onto Gabriella's balcony and knocked softly on the French doors as he had done so often lately. Normally he was welcome to use the front door at this time of day but Maria had banned him from the house after she had informed Gabriella of the marriage contract her father had arranged for her with one of his colleagues. In truth she was sympathetic to her daughter's feelings but could not see a way out of the contract, and believed that it would be easier for Gabriella to come to terms with the marriage if she ended it with her boyfriend straight away rather than leaving it until the last minute.

In truth, Maria was underestimating the strength of Troy and Gabriella's feelings for one another, after all they had only just got back together after the misunderstanding at Lava Springs a few months ago, and their relationship was very obviously innocent in spite of Troy's not so secret visits (though Maria wasn't aware how often Troy climbed the tree to visit Gabriella late at night she had occasionally noticed when he came earlier in the evening).

He found her lying on the bed crying, and rushed over to hold her while she sobbed. As frequently happened her tears triggered his and they sat crying together until shortly before Maria was due home. He wished he could do more to comfort her, not realizing that what she needed most at this point was the confirmation that he was just as upset about losing her as she was over losing him.

Troy knew things were worse for Gabriella, he was losing the girl he loved and that left a huge hole in his life and his heart and soul. Gabriella was losing not only him, but also her home, her dreams, her friends even her identity.

She was lost he knew and he worried constantly that she might harm herself. He found himself texting her every 10 minutes when they couldn't be together. He wanted to tell their friends so he could ask them to look out for her too, but Gabriella refused. It was her secret to tell and she couldn't stand the idea of people gossiping about her tragedy. She also knew that once she was gone half the girls in the school would be falling over themselves to offer comfort (and more) to the Wildcat superstar, and if it got out before she left she would have to deal with all of them as well.

Friday 22nd November

It was the next day before Lucille found an opportunity to approach Troy about his relationship with Gabriella and her mother.

"Morning Mom" said Troy sitting down and half-heartedly eating breakfast.

"Good morning Troy. How are you coping?"

"Fine Mom" said Troy giving his mother a questioning look.

"I saw Maria at the market yesterday and she seemed to think you and Gabriella were taking a break?" Lucille said trying to pretend she wasn't prying.

Troy went still for a moment. He didn't know how to answer that. Should he tell his mother that Maria was wrong and risk her saying something to Maria, or should he just let it slide and let his mother think that Gabriella had broken up with him, but then his mum would tell his dad who would know that it wasn't true. "She's wrong, Gabriella and I are fine"

"Troy I've never seen you be less fine than in the last couple of weeks. I'm worried about you. Please tell me what's going on."

"I've told you I can't talk about it mom. Please let it drop" Troy said angrily.

Kelsi cornered her 'big brother and sister' "I know something's going on and I know you've said you don't want to talk about it. I'm not going to pry. I just need you to know you both mean a lot to me and if you ever need an outside opinion or advice on this I'm here and I promise not to tell anyone anything you tell me. I'm willing to do anything I can to help" she said to them. "Please don't make excuses we can all see that you're both hurting. We just want to be able to help." She gave them each a quick hug and walked away to let them think over what she'd said without feeling pressured to confide in her.

Troy and Gabriella felt guilty, but there was no way they could tell everyone. As hard as it was to try and pretend everything was okay (and apparently they were doing a lousy job of it), they both needed the normalcy of their school life. Telling their friends would bring it all into the open and they would have to deal with their friend's reactions as well as their own. They knew it'd come eventually but they just couldn't face it yet.

Saturday 23rd November

Gabriella lay in bed listlessly on Saturday morning exhausted by grief and not motivated to face another day of not being allowed to see Troy. Maria had all but grounded her outside of school hours, she was allowed to have as many friends over as she wished (anyone except Troy) but was not allowed to leave the house except under the supervision of her mother. The fact that Gabriella was refusing to speak to her mother meant that any time spent in her presence was extremely awkward and left Gabriella feeling like a prisoner in her own home.

The morning passed slowly, Taylor came by with plans to study together and for the yearbook but Gabriella just couldn't summon the enthusiasm she'd previously had for the project. She worked half-heartedly choosing to complete the boring grunt work since she couldn't concentrate on anything more complicated. Taylor tried to engage her friend in conversation but Gabriella wasn't interested in the latest gossip, and refused to discuss plans for Christmas, college plans, or surprisingly Troy.

After several hours of working near silently, Taylor left feeling extremely frustrated with, and concerned about her surprisingly indecisive best friend. She just could not understand why Gabriella felt she could not confide in her.

Troy was slightly better off in that he was able to leave the house and that his parents were trying to be supportive. He went running with his dad first thing, and then practiced Basketball drills until he was ready to drop. The boys came around and played two on two for a while before Mrs Bolton called them in to eat. They spent the day playing X box and trying to distract Troy. He was able to lose himself in Mario cart for a while only for it all to come crashing back down on him when his friends left. He went up to complete his homework before going to bed early to get some sleep before sneaking out to see Gabriella.

Sunday 24th November

Sunday passed for Troy much the same as Saturday, he took an afternoon nap to catch up on some of the sleep he'd missed while visiting Gabriella each night.

Gabriella too spent most of the day in her room trying to keep up with her studies. It didn't seem very important at the moment but she wanted to make sure she earned enough credits to graduate early in case she wasn't allowed to transfer to a new school next semester. She wanted the satisfaction of at least knowing that Eduardo hadn't been able to prevent her from finishing high school and getting the grades to get into a good college whether she ended up going or not.

Troy brought a picnic when he visited that night. Gabriella has eaten very little at lunch during the week and she was starting to look noticeably thinner. He could understand he didn't have much of an appetite these days either and it was worse for Gabriella who couldn't raid the kitchen without risking another confrontation with her mother. He deliberately didn't pack peanut butter and jelly or chocolate covered strawberries wanting to avoid memories of previous dates. Instead he stole the leftovers his Mom was planning to pack for his dad's lunch the next day, and a supply of energy and protein bars so she would have a stash of food for later.

With Troy's encouragement Gabriella managed to eat the food and felt slightly better afterwards. They didn't talk much but snuggled down and slept for a few hours before Troy let himself out and ran home.


	6. Chapter 6

A Change of Plans

Chapter 6

Monday 25th November

Like everyone Chad was also seriously worried about Troy and unlike Jack or Kelsi he wasn't willing to put up with not being able to do anything about it. He and Troy had been almost like brothers for more than twelve years and he had never seen Troy so down, even when he and Taylor had conspired to split Troy and Gabriella up the year before hadn't been this bad. He thought that Gabriella breaking it off with Troy over the summer and the fight they'd all had might have been this bad, but since Chad hadn't been speaking with Troy at the time he didn't really know.

It had been more than a week now and Troy still hadn't told him what was upsetting him so much, he wasn't getting any better either and in fact was starting to look like he was losing weight as well as sleep over whatever it was. Chad knew there was only one thing in the world that could possibly affect his friend like this short of some sort of family tragedy which would have also affected Coach, so when Troy refused to confide in him he bailed up Gabriella after class one day (having arranged the rest of the team to keep Troy busy and out of his way).

"Gabs, what is going on with you and Hoops?" Chad demanded angrily . "I've never seen him so down, not even last summer when you quit Lava Springs. What did you do?" He didn't mean to sound so accusatory in truth he was more worried than angry and it was not only Troy that he was worried about but to Gabriella he sounded like he was blaming her for Troy's depression.

Gabriella was a little taken aback by Chad's attack. She'd thought that they were better friends than that. 'Apparently Chad was only willing to accept her as a friend for Troy's sake. And now that Troy seemed to be unhappy with her, Chad was no longer willing to be so friendly' Gabriella thought sadly.

"I can't tell you what's wrong, Chad, but please believe me I didn't cause this. We've just got some stuff we need to work through." Gabriella replied hoping that Chad would drop the subject.

"Why can't you tell me? Troy's totally out of it. We haven't hung out in weeks. I'm worried about him Gabs. Why's he blowing us all off all of a sudden?" Chad ranted pacing agitatedly.

Chad sounded angry with Troy too. Gabriella didn't want to tell him about the marriage contract but she needed to do something to try to repair and maintain Chad's friendship with Troy. Troy would need his friends desperately after she left, and he would be in no state to cope with their anger. She needed to know that they would be there to support him.

"Please be patient with him for now. He's really going to need your support soon. I know he doesn't mean to blow you off, he's probably not even aware that he is doing it. He has a lot going on that I can't talk about" she begged.

"You mean it's gonna get worse?" Chad was shocked he couldn't even begin to imagine Troy being more depressed than he already was.

"Yeah it probably will Christmas and New Year are going to be really hard for him and he'll need you to be there for him then. I won't be able to help him then" Gabriella said miserably.

Chad looked shocked. "You're moving away?" Chad wasn't the most observant of people, but even he picked up on the hints that Gabriella wouldn't be around much longer. And he knew that having to move had always been one of Gabriella's fears.

Gabriella thought quickly then nodded sadly "I hate to even think of leaving all you guys, but I don't have a choice." Hopefully this would be enough to explain their problems to Chad and get him to cut Troy some slack without having to tell him the rest

"We don't want you to leave either Gabs. Where are you going? Is it close enough to visit?" Chad tried to find a way to let her know that, despite what had happened when she'd moved in the past, they would all remain in contact with her.

Gabriella sighed "No it won't be. It's not finalised yet, but it will be either Mexico or Detroit and they're both about 26 hours drive from Albuquerque."

"Shit no wonder Hoops is so down." Chad almost looked depressed himself. Gabriella had become almost like a sister to him and if the thought of her leaving hurt him, then he couldn't even imagine how bad she and Troy must be feeling.

"Don't tell everyone. I couldn't face all the goodbyes yet Chad. I need time to accept it myself first." Gabriella asked.

"Troy does know about this though doesn't he?" Chad confirmed.

"Yeah Troy was there when mum told me." Gabriella explained.

"And Coach? And Mrs B? Do they know?"

"No, Troy doesn't want to tell him yet" Gabriella explained.

"Okay I won't say anything to the gang yet Gabs, but Taylor and Kelsi are also really worried about you and Troy. They need to know soon. If I were you I'd tell them before they force it out of you. Coach and Mrs B are worried about Troy too."

"Yeah I know. I'm trying Chad but these things take time." Gabriella sighed.

Chad had thought that knowing the problem would help him to know how to help fix it. But this couldn't be fixed, and Gabriella was right Troy was holding onto her like she was the only thing left in his life that still meant anything. He didn't know how Troy would cope once she was gone. Chad was now not merely worried but almost frightened for his friend. What was worse is that because he'd promised Gabriella not to tell anyone he had no-one to share his worries with.

Since Maria had told them about the contract Troy had visited Gabriella every afternoon leaving before Maria arrived home as well as every night, not leaving until the early hours of the morning. Gabriella had started setting her alarm for five am just in case Troy fell asleep before leaving. It was lucky she did as that is what had happened this morning and the joy of waking up with Gabriella even though he had to rush off straight away had strengthened his resolve to find a way around the contract. Gabriella was his and it was time to stop moping about crying and start to fight for their future.

"I can't lose you Gabriella. There's got to be something we can do." He greeted, hugging her as she walked into the school entry later that morning.

Gabriella was no longer allowed to ride to school with Troy. It was part of Maria's determination that they no longer had the opportunity to be alone together. However Maria had underestimated both Troy's knowledge of the school and their determination not to be separated. The approaching separation had also had another unintended effect. Gabriella had become more accepting of affection in public. Before this, though most of the school knew they were a couple and they were rarely seen apart except for class and basketball, they rarely did more than friendly hugs and holding hands in front of other people.

Gabriella looked up at Troy, his eyes had a light in them she was reluctant to extinguish. This was the first time they had reflected any emotion other than misery since they had got the news the week before. Ten days without a smile from Troy, the boy who, before this, rarely could look at her without his eyes lighting up. Her broken heart ached even more at the evidence that his pain equalled hers. She thought hard for a moment trying to think of something they could do to fight this, she didn't want to give him false hope, but even if it turned out to be a waste of time Troy would feel better if he thought they had something to work towards. And if he wasn't feeling so helpless maybe he could come up with something. Troy was often a lot more intelligent and inventive than he gave himself credit for, and his stubborn refusal to admit defeat had led him to forcing a solution to seemingly insurmountable barriers to their relationship in the past.

"Let's look for the contract, maybe we can find some way around it." Gabriella replied even though she didn't really believe it would do any good. Maria had said she had tried to get Gabriella out of the marriage. Gabriella believed that her mother would have done everything possible; if Maria couldn't prevent it then she didn't dare to hope that she and Troy would be able to. But with the contract at least Gabriella would know exactly what she'd be facing, hopefully the contract would spell out certain rights like maintaining contact with friends or attending the school of her choice.

Troy nodded. "Do you have any idea where it might be?" he asked.

Gabriella thought for a moment. "Mum said she's had the contract for eight or nine years, so it must be well hidden if I've never come across it while packing and unpacking. Gabriella had moved at least eleven times in the last eight and a half years since they'd left Gabriella's father, and she and her mother were now an expert team when it came to packing and unpacking. The only things Gabriella had never helped to pack were mum's bedroom and her mum's work files. "Mum would probably have put it in with her work stuff; I'm not allowed to look in there so I'd never have come across it by accident. The only problem is I think the cabinet is locked so we have to find the key first. The other alternative would be her bedroom.

"Well I'm not exactly comfortable ransacking your Mum's office but her bedroom would be even more of an invasion of her privacy, so I'll come over after school and we can do the office first okay? We don't have practice today, Dad's busy with something." That gave them some time alone in the house. Maria had been doing more work from home lately, and she would often be home by the time Troy finished with Basketball practice to make sure he and Gabriella weren't together but she knew Troy should have practice tonight until 5 o'clock so she wouldn't be home until after that.

The day passed slowly, Troy and Gabriella choosing to spend their free time attempting to catch up on their homework, to free up time later for the search. It was the first time since that dreadful night that Troy had been motivated to study at all and even Gabriella's usual enthusiasm for school had been seriously lacking.

"What will we do with the contract if we find it?" Gabriella asked. "Do you know any good lawyers that can give us some advice? The only lawyers I know are Mr and Mrs McKessie but they both practice criminal law we need someone who handles contracts."

Troy thought for a moment, "I could ask Mum, she deals with contracts so she must know someone who would know about contracts like this." Lucille Bolton was a real estate agent.

"But could you ask her without giving any details, I thought you didn't want them to know".

Troy and Gabriella had decided not to tell his parents about the marriage contract, they were afraid they would react the same way as Gabriella's mum and try to keep them apart.

"Maybe I can" Troy replied "we'll deal with it when we find the contract. I could tell her it was for my Business class project."

"You'd lie to your Mama" Gabriella teased. In truth she knew that while Troy often kept things from his father, he and his mother were very close.

Troy's grin faded "You lie to yours everyday now" he said feeling guilty "and you are important to me. I'll do anything to stop this, including lie to my mother."

The filing cabinet was indeed locked making Troy and Gabriella believe it would be the most likely place Maria would have hidden the contract so Gabriella hunted through the papers in her mother's desk drawers carefully; trying to make sure she returned things to the same position as much as possible, while Troy was tipping up the vases and pencil holders looking for a hidden key.

"I've found a key but it looks much too small" Troy said as he held up a small gold key.

Gabriella, looked up, frowned and thought for a moment, "I think that's the key to Mum's jewellery case but I don't know why it would be hidden down here?"

"Is the case big enough to hide papers in? Maybe we should look in there too, I mean if it's locked and the key hidden down here, then that might be a good place to hide important stuff she didn't want you to find."

After looking though the rest of the study without success finding the contract or filing cabinet key, Troy followed Gabriella up the stairs but hesitated in the doorway of Maria's bedroom, it felt even more wrong to go through the bedroom the way they had searched the study. The jewellery case was not in its usual position and a quick hunt through Maria's room and wardrobe didn't reveal it. "The contract must be either in the case or the filing cabinet" said Gabriella. "Let's look through the rest of the house for the jewellery case and if it's not in there I'll have to sneak down and steal her keys to see if one fits the cabinet tonight while she's sleeping."

Before they could search any further they heard Maria's car pull into the drive so Troy gave Gabriella a quick kiss and climbed down the tree as Maria entered the kitchen. Gabriella sat on her bed and hurriedly opened her books to the homework she had half completed earlier trying to look like she had been studying. She silently helped her mum cook dinner, keeping an eye out for the key's, there were several keys that looked promising but Gabriella didn't have any opportunity to try them.


	7. Chapter 7

A Change of Plans

Chapter 7

November 26 Tuesday

The next morning Gabriella rushed through getting ready for school; luckily her Mum had an important meeting out of town and had left the house as Gabriella's alarm went off. Calling Troy to let him know the coast was clear for him to pick her up this morning she then searched through the empty rooms, finally finding the jewellery case hidden under the bed in the guest room. She opened it and grabbed all the papers inside stuffing them into her bag as Troy rang the doorbell.

"I think I found it" she said "I haven't had a chance to read them but these papers were locked in the jewellery case and whatever they are they were very well hidden, let's go and I can look it over on the way. Did you ask your Mum and Dad about lawyers?"

Troy smiled to see his girlfriend so upbeat. "Not yet, Mum's out of town on business and Dad was talking about the Redhawks game and scholarships all night, you know how he gets." Troy sighed before continuing "He's not exactly happy with me at the moment either. I've been kinda off my game." Troy's father was the coach of their school's basketball team for which Troy was captain, and expected a lot of his son. Sometimes Troy felt that he was more 'Coach' than 'Dad'.

Troy opened the passenger door of his truck and helped her into the seat kissing her as he did up the seatbelt. She could have done it herself of course but she loved how Troy took the time to protect her. He climbed in and started the engine as she pulled out the papers. Yes the contract was there and she read it through. It was just as her Mum had told her; simple, straight forward, with no obvious loopholes or exit clauses. Worse than that Gabriella saw that the penalties laid out for breaching the contract were far more than her mother could possibly afford.

Gabriella slumped in defeat dropping the papers to the floor of the truck as she began to cry. Troy quickly pulled over and drew her into his arms trying to offer what comfort he could although he felt his heart breaking too.

"We best get to school before Darbus tells Dad that I've skipped" Troy said quietly a few minutes later as they pulled themselves together. They drove the rest of the way to school in silence and ran for homeroom as the bell rang.

Gabriella and Troy were even quieter that day worrying their friends who had known something was up. They had hoped yesterday that the problem was beginning to sort itself out. But now they seemed sadder than ever. Their friends had attempted to help, but neither Troy nor Gabriella was up to talking about the problem. So Taylor made copies of the lectures she was sure her friend had not taken in and Chad and the boys ran interference trying to keep the teacher's (and especially Coach's) attention away from the miserable couple. Chad and Jason also played the clown trying to cheer them up but without success.

At the end of the day after an especially gruelling Basketball practice where it seemed he could do nothing right, Troy climbed into his truck and rested his head on the steering wheel. Tears filled his eyes as he saw the contract papers that were about to ruin his life lying on the floor where Gabriella had forgotten them. He slowly reached out and picked them up, wanting to tear up the contract even though it wouldn't do any good to destroy what was very clearly only a copy.

Troy then noticed a second official looking form on the floor that they had overlooked this morning. Glancing at it he saw that it was the parental permission form for an underage marriage. About to rip it up he caught his breath in shock as he saw what had been written on it and more surprisingly what hadn't. The consent form had been signed by Maria but the groom's name had not been filled in!

A mad crazy idea entered Troy's head as his heart began beating faster and faster. "Calm down Troy" he told himself "think this through."

The idea growing in his mind wouldn't be ignored though, and Troy started making plans. "I need help" he muttered "but who will help without blowing the secret. Nobody can find out or they'll try to stop us".

Troy drove home like a man possessed. It was sheer luck that he didn't have an accident as he pushed his old truck to the limit paying minimal attention to the road as his thoughts raced frantically. He jumped out and ran to his room booting up his laptop and pulling out a notebook to make a list.

"First I need to find out if it's possible, because I can't see being able to talk Mum and Dad into consenting to this" he said to himself. He googled Marriage laws and quickly found the answer he was looking for. Troy had turned eighteen two weeks before, and was legally old enough to marry in the state of New Mexico without parental approval. It was possible! He quickly exited the website and executed a program to hide the history of what sites he'd visited before pacing around his room trying to decide what to do.

Marriage was a big step and Troy was more than a little frightened of the idea, but the alternative, having to give up Gabriella was impossible to bear. The thought of losing her had been destroying him, and he had selfishly been wanting to ask her to run away with him even though he knew it was not sensible. They had nowhere to go, no one to hide them, and they would both be giving up likely scholarships to drop out of high school now. He would gladly give up his future for her, but Gabriella was smart she deserved a better life than a high school dropout could give her; Troy had felt selfish for even considering it. Running away would condemn Gabriella to a life of long hours of menial work, forever struggling to make ends meet at best. Troy knew Gabriella would probably eventually regret it if they dropped out of school and ran away together, and that it would kill him to see that regret in her eyes.

But this was different, they didn't have to leave town or drop out of school, once they were married no one could separate them. Gabriella couldn't marry that idiot if she was already married, and surely being married already would stop the contract. Once they were married surely one of their parents would support them so that they could finish high school, and Gabriella's college scholarship would surely include accommodation. If he got a job or a scholarship to a college nearby he could stay with her. It would be a struggle but it wouldn't ruin Gabriella's dreams of becoming a lawyer. Getting married wouldn't ruin Gabriella's future, wouldn't even put it at risk. Troy knew that it might affect his future but he also knew Gabriella was more important to him than what college he went to or basketball team he played for. Troy's natural optimism began to return and he started to believe everything would work out.

Troy knew that his parents and Maria would be extremely angry, furious even, but Gabriella would be safe, and to Troy at that moment nothing else mattered. And his parents would get over it eventually if they really loved him. (He had no doubt they did) They would just have to understand that Gabriella was his future, and Troy was not letting her go.

He considered whether he should ask his friends for help. Chad would make a big production out of the secret and his Dad would become suspicious (their secrets and plans had been given away that way before) besides he would think Troy crazy and definitely try to argue him out of it. The other guys too wouldn't be much help either, they truly didn't understand the level of commitment Troy felt for Gabriella. He considered asking Gabriella's best friend Taylor, she'd certainly know what he needed to do and she could keep secrets but... no she couldn't be trusted to go along with it and Troy thought she might even tell someone in attempt to stop it . "I'd have to convince her that this was what was best for Gabriella's future and I'm not sure I could do that. I know it is but Taylor is very college an career before relationships". Sharpay and Ryan he didn't trust with any secret let alone something like this, Sharpay was too manipulative, he still felt some resentment towards her for trying to break up him and Gabriella over the summer, not to mention that she would turn it into a huge production if she did go along with it, and he couldn't help but suspect that she would use the knowledge to blackmail him into something he didn't want to do. Sharpay always looked out for her own interests first and any help she gave him would come with a huge price tag somehow. He didn't have anything against Ryan though he didn't really know him that well, Ryan was more Gabriella's friend... and he couldn't be trusted to keep secrets from his sister. He considered asking Kelsi, Troy thought that she might be the most likely to help. They'd become close over the last year, she was like a little sister to him, and she was romantic enough to believe that this could work, and she knew better than anyone how much he loved Gabriella. Yes Kelsi was a possibility, but still too big a risk unless he was desperate for advice or assistance which he wasn't yet.

Troy decided not to confide in his friends yet, but if he was going manage to do all this without them he would have to get organized. He started to make a list of what he would need. Gabriella had shown him how to make lists to organise himself and make the best use of his time trying to juggle schoolwork, basketball and theatre. It was one habit of Gabriella's that Troy had enthusiastically adopted though he still didn't make as many as Gabriella did.

Rings – he had his grandparent's rings somewhere in his drawers, his Grandfather had given them to him just before he died. He hoped that Gabriella didn't mind wearing a second hand ring and would like them because Grandma's ring was lovely a teardrop shaped blue diamond set diagonally with 3 smaller white diamonds on one side and he really couldn't afford to buy a new ring anywhere near as nice as this one. It was very special to him too and he'd always imagined his future wife wearing the ring his grandfather had given him before he'd died. And of having the same wonderful marriage as his grandfather had told him about.

Proposal – Troy had been dreaming of proposing to Gabriella on and off for the last 6 months but he'd always pictured it happening after they finished college and he could afford an extravagant restaurant and/or a public declaration. Neither option would be possible now, their engagement had to be kept secret until the wedding, Gabriella wasn't allowed to go out with him anymore, and wasn't sure he had any money to spare to spend on the proposal when he still didn't know how much the wedding would cost. Or if he would have to support himself once his parents found out! Troy sent up a silent prayer that it wouldn't come to that, but even that possibility wasn't enough to make him have second thoughts about proposing.

Courthouse – Troy didn't know if he needed to make an appointment or just show up, or if there were forms to fill out in advance or whatever. He needed to find out all this stuff so things would go smoothly on the day. Gabriella would be more likely to take him seriously if he had it all planned out thoroughly and she knew it wasn't just a spur of the moment proposal. Troy was a bit worried that Gabriella would be disappointed with a civil ceremony at the courthouse. It didn't matter to him so long as Gabriella was happy he would be too. He knew that this wasn't the wedding Gabriella had probably been dreaming of her whole life (Weddings did seem to mean a lot more to girls for some reason) but surely marrying him like this was better than a big fancy wedding to someone she hadn't even met, and if a church wedding was important to Gabriella he would happily help her organise one later.

Clothes – Troy didn't care if he wore jeans and a t-shirt to his wedding it was the end result that was important, but he wanted Gabriella to think he looked good. He decided he'd talk to Gabriella about that when he had some of the other stuff organized. It was more her thing anyway.

Photos – This was a big occasion and they would want photos to remember it, but how could they do that if they were the only ones there? Should he confide in Jason he was pretty good with a camera although video was more his thing. But he couldn't have Jason there without Chad. Chad would never forgive him. And if they had Chad and Jason there then they'd have to have the rest of their group. Was it worth the risk? Troy realized that this decision too would have to be put off and talked over with Gabriella too. She would know what to do.

Wedding night – He grinned nervously, he'd been dreaming of this for months too. But how could he set up a night alone without their parents realising they were missing and raising the alarm. He also doubted that Gabriella was anywhere near ready to have sex yet. She was still so hesitant to trying anything new when they made out. So innocent and easily embarrassed by even the mention of sex in a movie if they were watching it together. When it happened he wanted to be able to spend the whole night together and wake up in the morning and not need to rush off, or to lie about where he'd been. It was going to be awkward enough forcing their first time before they were quite ready for it, and he definitely didn't want any extra pressure of trying to beat a curfew, or risking being caught in the act or having to sneak out and leave Gabi to wake up alone. And where would they go, would it be better to be somewhere familiar where they could relax rather than a hotel where they would be even more awkward just being there, and he wanted to do it properly in a bed where they could cuddle afterwards. Troy would never admit it to his mates but he found the idea of being able to hold Gabriella all night and wake up with her in his arms almost as appealing as the thought of sex.

He thought they were going to have to get their friends to cover for them for the night, which brought him back to the question of who he could trust. With his thoughts going around in circles Troy hid his notebook in the bottom of his bag and went down to dinner trying very hard not to act differently. His parents already knew something was wrong but he hadn't told them about the marriage contract. He didn't realize it but his distraction as he tried to work everything out meant that he still seemed quieter than normal but far more energetic and content than during the previous week.


	8. Chapter 8

A Change of Plans

Chapter 8

Tuesday November 26th continued

Jack looked up in relief as Troy came down the stairs looking more alive than he had this afternoon at practice. He was well aware that whatever was wrong with Troy was serious to be affecting his game as much as it had this week, but Troy hadn't seemed to want to talk about it. He'd been spending all his time shut in his room, or out of the house. Jack blamed Gabriella. He liked the girl but did not always approve of the effect she had on his son though he could tolerate it so long as Troy was happy. This past week however, Troy was anything but happy and the resentment Jack had felt originally for Gabriella had begun to resurrect itself. He only prayed that the girl wasn't pregnant.

Lucille also looked relieved as Troy actually ate his meal instead of pushing it around his plate like he had for the last few weeks. Like Jack she had attempted to get Troy to confide in her but he had just told her that this was one thing no one could help with. She too suspected that the problem involved Gabriella and hoped they could work things out. Unlike her husband, Lucille was well aware how serious her son was about Gabriella, and thought it possible that they would one day marry, though their plans to attend colleges 1,000 miles apart would make that difficult. In fact while she would never mention it to Jack she would not be surprised if Troy was thinking about attending college in California near Gabriella, she only hoped he didn't have to compromise too much to do so.

After dinner Troy forced himself to attempt to catch up on his homework, which had been neglected since that terrible night. He knew his grades were good enough for U. of A. but he wasn't sure about the other colleges and while he hadn't made any decisions he knew that he wanted to be closer to Gabriella. He'd applied to every college in California that had a basketball team, and was confident he would get at least one positive response but he wanted to get onto a good team and be as close to Stanford as possible. He finished the work due the following day with difficulty, grateful that he didn't have any tests this week as his concentration was shot.

He called Gabriella to say goodnight. Troy had always enjoyed these late night conversations, lying in bed almost pretending that Gabriella was there with him. The only thing better was when he snuck out of the house and climbed up the tree outside Gabriella's room and could hold her until she went to sleep. He tried not to do this too often, to save it for nights one of them really needed the comfort because he knew if they were caught both of them would be grounded and the tree cut down to prevent it from occurring again though since they'd found out about the contract he'd gone most nights. Tonight was one of the nights he would normally have gone to her, but Gabriella knew him too well for him to be with her in person tonight. She would have noticed in an instant that he wasn't depressed anymore the way he'd been in school that day and instead was excited about something and she would have been hurt that he could be happy in the situation they found themselves. Especially as he couldn't explain to her what he was happy about. If he went to see her he would probably end up blurting out the whole idea and he didn't want to do that yet. He wanted to plan it out and make it special. Not to mention in future when people asked them how he proposed he didn't want to have to say that they were in Gabriella's bed in the middle of the night. He didn't want people to get the wrong idea.

It was difficult to stop himself from blurting the solution out straight away even over the phone, particularly when Gabriella sounded so sad. He felt guilty leaving her feeling that way. But 'no' he told himself Gabriella deserves a proper proposal at least, even if we can't have a big fancy wedding like my cousin Joanne had last year. To be totally honest a small part of Troy was glad to escape the whole wedding hoopla. Troy had vowed to himself the year before after spending the day and a half before the wedding running around trying to help his stressed out bridal cousin Joanne and her equally stressed mother Aunt Belinda, that 'he was never ever getting married'. Of course that was before he met Gabriella. He pushed those feelings of guilty semi-relief down knowing that if it were possible he would have happily submitted to the fussiest, fanciest, most expensive, girliest wedding imaginable if that was what Gabriella wanted, and not only that but also willingly helped her organize every single detail if she'd asked him to. Troy tried to hide his excitement and nervousness as they spoke quietly until Gabriella fell asleep.

By this time it was after eleven but Troy was too worked up to sleep. 'If we're going to do this it needs to be as soon as possible before Maria notices the form missing' he thought to himself, getting up and pacing around his room. That means that I need to go to the courthouse first thing, maybe tomorrow in free period, and then propose to Gabriella so that she can help with planning the wedding.

He stopped pacing and started to look for the rings his father had given him after his Grandmother's funeral. Eventually he found them tucked away in the back of the drawer. "I think Grandma would have approved" he thought to himself "they eloped themselves after all." Troy laughed to himself as he remembered how annoyed his father had been when his Grandad spoke of the romance of sneaking into his girlfriend's bedroom and convincing her to run away with him. 'I guess dad was right to worry I would elope too' he thought ironically, 'but I never would have done it just cause it's romantic or cause I couldn't wait like Grandad did.'


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

November 27 Wednesday

The next morning Troy deliberately didn't park in his usual spot but rather on the other side of the school near the exit he would need to use to get to the courthouse. Then he went up to the rooftop until he appeared to be late for school so he wouldn't have to talk to anybody. He sat anxiously through his first couple of classes then shot out of class and ran as the bell for free period rang. He arrived at the courthouse and spoke to an elderly clerk, who gave him some forms to fill out to apply for a marriage licence, informing him that there was a delay of five working days for the paperwork to be processed after he completed and returned it. The clerk advised him to use those days to think about whether they really wanted to go through with this because most teen marriages did not last.

Troy filled in what he could and announced his intention to return the next day with all the required documentation. He asked for and was granted an appointment after school for Friday of the following week for the ceremony.

Gabriella had been hurt by Troy's absence that morning, they had so little time left she thought, and surely whatever he was doing could have waited. She was worried that she was being too clingy, or too depressing to be around. Maybe Troy was starting to agree with her mother that if the relationship had to end that it might hurt less to end it quickly. Gabriella didn't know what she would do if this were true, to see Troy and not be with him would kill her for sure.

She wasn't sure if Troy had realised it, but she was not just getting married at Christmas, she was also graduating early and leaving Albuquerque. Her future husband lived in Detroit. None of the colleges she had applied to were near there and she'd researched the colleges in Detroit but none of them really excited her though she'd put in a late application for DeVry University and the University of Phoenix and expected to hear back from them in the next couple of weeks. Truthfully Gabriella didn't know if her husband would let her go to college at all. He must be a real traditionalist to agree to an arranged marriage, and women traditionally were not allowed to work. It seemed that all her dreams were now impossible, her life as she pictured it was over. She couldn't bear to tell Troy she was leaving. Gabriella had only hazy memories of that first night Troy came to visit after they'd found out about the contract, and didn't remember telling Troy that she would be moving away.

Gabriella was an expert at packing up her life and starting again someplace new, but this time she had real friends to leave behind, people she would miss, and Troy. Troy was her life. The idea of starting again in Detroit without Troy or her mum or her friends just seemed like a never-ending nightmare. Being forced to also marry a stranger, so much older than her (he was 33), and possibly not being able to go to college was more than she could bear.

Always before when she had had to move she had consoled herself with the dream of going to Stanford. She dreamed of the day she'd be able to guarantee that she would live in the same place for at least four years and that she'd be among other high achieving students where her brains and studiousness would be admired instead of ridiculed and be able to make friends.

In the past she'd never been able to truly connect to her classmates Now everything was being torn away from her at once, all her hopes and dreams, her friends and family, her entire future destroyed by this stupid marriage.

She had woken last night not long after Troy had hung up, and cried until she threw up. Afterwards sitting on the cold bathroom floor in absolute despair, she started to make plans. Plans she wouldn't share with anyone, not even Troy.

She decided that she wasn't going to marry Eduardo, she didn't even want to meet him. She was going to make the most of the time she had left with Troy, and then if her parents wouldn't break the contract, she would kill herself. She belonged with Troy Heart Body and Soul, she could never let anyone kiss her like Troy did, love her like Troy did. If she planned it right, Troy would never know that she'd done it. Her mum was leaving Albuquerque too, work had transferred her again. No one here would have to know she had died, she would tell them she just needed to make a clean break to give her marriage a chance to work, that she didn't want anyone to contact her and that she was changing her cell-phone number and refuse to leave a forwarding address. She knew Troy would be hurt by this complete lack of contact but he would support it if she could make him believe it was in her best interests. He would probably not expect her to go through with breaking off all contact for long and be saddened when he realized that she truly had, but it would be better than him knowing the truth.

Like Troy she had considered and rejected the idea of running away. She had nowhere to go and no money. She couldn't access her college fund until she was in college. She would end up living on the streets and she honestly didn't think she had the courage to survive like that. She also believed that if Troy knew she was going to run away he would try to come with her, or spend his life trying to find her. She couldn't destroy his future just because hers lay in ruins.

Troy would be surrounded by his friends and family, he would have his basketball scholarship and a bright future in front of him. He would eventually get over her and move on, no matter how much she the thought of Troy forgetting her hurt, it also bought some small comfort, though she was incredibly glad that she wouldn't be around to see it.

She wanted to make love with Troy before she went, though she knew that in normal circumstances they were not ready to take that step in their relationship. She knew it was selfish, Troy would be better off saving his first time for someone he could have a future with. Even if he lost his virginity at a drunken party or in a mad act of rebellion it might make it easier for him to get over her. It was useless wishing for Troy to make love with her, they had discussed it a few days ago. She wanted to, and he did too. But Troy thought that Eduardo might be angry if he wasn't the first and he wanted her to be treated well even if she wasn't with him.

She'd always been a little frightened of sex, not afraid of how she'd heard it hurt the first time but how it seemed to change things so much. She thought that what she had with Troy was pretty near perfect and hadn't wanted anything to change. She had known she was being irrational, that Troy loved her and that having sex couldn't wreck that, but still she'd hesitated. She regretted it now; she wished they'd done it. She even wished she was pregnant, surely that would have stopped this nightmare.

Kelsi was the first to notice the difference in Troy that morning. Instead of sitting in class apathetically not paying attention to anything around him he now seemed too anxious and excited to notice his surroundings. She didn't know what had caused the change especially when Gabriella had looked even more depressed this morning than she normally did these days. Kelsi just hoped that this change in her big brother's mood was actually an improvement and not a new problem for her favourite couple.

"Troy?" she asked hesitantly, repeating herself a little louder, then laying her hand on his arm when Troy continued failing to hear her.

Troy jumped then looked around "What's up Kels?" he asked.

"That's what I want to know" she replied dryly. "Are you Okay?"

Troy smiled nervously "Yeah I'm fine."

Kelsi didn't believe him. Troy was fidgety and extremely distracted. If she didn't know him better she would have thought he was suffering from drug withdrawal.

"Troy. What's wrong? You are starting to worry me"

"Nothing's wrong Kels" he tried to brush her off not wanting to risk her guessing he was up to something and try to follow him.

Kelsi checked that the teacher still wasn't paying attention to them then grabbed his chin and gently forced him to look into her eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his eyes appeared normal and filled with emotion. "Troy you're acting like you're on drugs. Please tell me what's going on. I've respected your privacy until now but you're really starting to freak me out."

Troy looked hurt "Drugs! Kelsi you know I would never take drugs" he protested.

Kelsi smiled "Yeah I know you're not on drugs, but you're going to get into serious trouble if you don't calm down. You're acting so jittery I'm sure I won't be the only person to notice."

Troy drew a deep breath and forced himself to sit still.

"I can't tell you about it but I promise I will sort this out at lunch" He said as calmly as he could. "Help me avoid notice till then?" he begged.

"Okay Troy you have until the end of the day. If you aren't any better by then I will demand a full explanation of what's going on." Kelsi threatened.

"All right, if you're still worried about me after school, then I will drive you home and we can talk. I can't promise I'll be able to tell you everything but I'll tell you enough that you understand why I feel like this today" Troy agreed. He knew that after he'd proposed to Gabriella he would no longer be anxious and jittery. Either he'd be happy enough to lay to rest Kelsi's concerned or so depressed that he'd need her help.

Kelsi nodded "Don't you have practice after school?" she asked.

"Yeah but I'll be finished by half past four. I'll pick you up from your music room when I'm ready to go."

"Okay. I'll see you then" she agreed, before returning her attention to the class.

Going to her locker before lunch Gabriella found a note from Troy. Her hands shook as she picked it up, surely he wouldn't break up with her in a letter left in her locker. She read it quickly; it was an invitation to lunch on the roof which didn't totally calm her fears. Why couldn't he have met her outside her classroom and asked her in person the way he usually did? Something was going on with him. She closed her eyes for a second and prayed that he wasn't breaking up with her, before heading up to meet him.

Gabriella came up the stairs to find a picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chocolate covered strawberries laid out on a blanket in the shade. That relieved her worries, but not her confusion. Troy might have wanted privacy to break up, but he never would have used their favourite picnic to do anything that would deliberately upset her. The picnic meant they were celebrating something or he wanted to talk about something, but she didn't know what.

She looked around and saw him standing there one hand in his pocket and the other behind his back, looking nervous. In fact she'd never seen him look this worried, not when he asked her out, not even when they got back together this summer, or before the championship or the opening night of 'Twinketown'. She walked over and went to wrap her arms around him when he stepped back.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Troy had packed the esky and blanket and had actually been very early to school to get it all set up, before leaving again to attempt to visit the courthouse before school. The clerk he needed hadn't been there yet but he at least knew who to ask for later. He had reworked his proposal speech last night a dozen times and rehearsed until he knew it by heart. The ring was in his pocket, even the note was prewritten so he could put it in her locker and run up to the roof to make sure everything was ready.

He had informed Chad of his plans for a private lunch, and threatened him with grievous bodily harm if they were interrupted. Chad had given him a wink and a smirk, assuming his intentions to be less than innocent, and promised to keep the guys away from the rooftop garden.

Troy stood waiting on the roof for Gabriella, his mouth dry, butterflies the size of sparrows in his stomach and his heart in his throat. He had been so busy trying to organize everything that up until now he hadn't considered that Gabriella might say 'no'. All of a sudden fear overtook him he forgot every word of his practiced proposal and he started to shake as he heard her come up the stairs.

He saw her smile fade as he stepped back to avoid her embrace, confusion and tears filling her eyes. 'No' he thought, this couldn't start with tears. He didn't think he could do this if she were crying. Quickly he thrust the bouquet in his hands at her and took her into his arms. "Please don't cry" he begged panicking "I promise there's nothing to cry about, it's all good I promise. I don't know if I can do this if you cry, Please stop. I can't bear to see you cry please" he begged incoherently.

Gabriella looked at him in surprise, and then down to the flowers forced into her hand in shock. What was going on? This nervous stuttering begging Troy was nothing like the confident wildcat she knew. She wiped her eyes and raised her eyebrows questioningly and waited silently for him to explain.

Troy took a deep breath reaching into his pocket, pulling out something small. He squared his shoulders and stepped back from Gabriella going down on one knee.

"Gabriella I love you, I can't live without you, you are my life, and you are my future, none of it means anything without you. Please Gabriella, Baby will you marry me?"

Troy held out the box containing his Grandmother's engagement ring anxiously holding his breath.

Gabriella had never been so surprised in her life, she was literally stuck dumb, she couldn't have answered him, she stood there repeating the proposal over in her mind.

Troy's expression fell and he stood and turned away from her, his eyes full of tears as he finally caught his breath panting and sobbing quietly.

The sound of his distress woke Gabriella from her stupor and she hurried over and threw her arms around him holding tight. "Do you mean it?" she asked anxiously. "Do you mean we can really get married? Is it real? Or do you want to get married just to stop Eduardo?"

Troy looked up with pain filled eyes, "Yes I mean it. I want to marry you? If it wasn't for Eduardo I wouldn't have asked yet, but I know I would have asked in a few years? I love you Gabi" Gabriella knew then that he did truly mean it, and that he had been hurt by her response. He rarely called her Gabi and never had since that night. It was her parent's name for her, and Troy was very angry with them right now, he wouldn't have used that name if he wasn't distraught.

"I would love to marry you." She said, "but I don't understand how it is possible".

Troy suddenly laughed and picked her up and spun around in joy. "You will be my wife?" he demanded.

"Yes yes yes" she shouted "it will be a dream come true, but how...?"

"Come sit and I will explain" he said leading her over to the blanket and pulling her down onto his lap. "It was in those papers you took from your mum's jewellery case."

"but the contract looked..."

"Not the contract, the other papers with it. We didn't look at them because we were so upset seeing the contract but look."

He pulled the 'Parental Permission for a Minor to Wed' form out of his bag. Your mum signed it but she didn't fill his name in. We can put my name in there and we can get married next week if you want."

"You would do this for me? Troy I can't ask you to give up your future. What about college, the Redhawks? Your parents will never..."

Troy laughed "Gabriella I would do anything for you. But believe me this is not a sacrifice. You are my future. We can still go to college. I've applied to a couple of colleges in California. I can still play basketball without being a Redhawk. That's Dad's dream, not mine. I want to be near you. I think I have a reasonable shot at a scholarship at USC Sacramento or maybe even UC Berkley if I'm lucky they need a new point guard, it wouldn't be quite as good as going to Stanford with you but it's the best I can do."

He kissed her softly, and asked quietly "That's good enough isn't it? I don't want you to give up your dreams for me. We'd see each other at least a couple of times a week."

She held him tight returning the kiss with interest. "It's perfect Troy. I didn't think I would get to go to college at all anymore, let alone to Stanford."

"What do you mean not go to college?" he asked "You're already accepted. Being married shouldn't change that."

"Troy, being married to you wouldn't stop me from going to college because you want to let me go. Eduardo, I think, wants a housewife, there's no way he would have let me go to Stanford, he wasn't even going to let me come back and finish Senior Year. I have enough credits to Graduate early but I didn't want to. If I was lucky he might have let me do some classes in Detroit but I doubt he'd even let me do that if it interfered with what he wanted from me."

Troy was getting angry "I can't believe your parents would ruin your life like that" he ranted.

"Me either, Mum has been talking about me going to Stanford ever since I started kindergarten." Gabriella hugged Troy trying to get him to calm down. "It's not like she wanted this but it's not her choice. I'd hoped since Stanford was so important to her that it would be written into the contract that Eduardo ould have to let me go if I got in."

After several minutes just enjoying being in his embrace, Gabriella's thoughts returned to Troy's proposal. "Troy you never told me how we can do this your Dad would never sign a consent form for you to get married even if we explained the circumstances, though maybe your Mum might..." she trailed of thoughtfully. "Don't we need both parents' consent? And my Dad hasn't signed mine either" she started to get upset, thinking that maybe this lovely idyllic dream solution was too good to be possible after all, and Troy hadn't thought of all these things. 'It was really sweet of him to ask her even if it is impossible' she thought sadly.

Troy hurried to reassure her. "No Baby it's okay, I'm eighteen, I don't need my parents to sign a consent form for me I'm old enough to get married without my parents' permission. And I asked at the courthouse, you don't need your Dad's consent either, you just need to sign a declaration that you haven't seen him for more than 3 years and don't know his address or phone number or have any other way of contacting him." He hesitated a moment, then asked "You don't do you? Because if you have his address or number written down somewhere then just tell me where it's written and I'll go destroy it so you don't have to lie." Troy knew that Gabriella could lie if she had to but that she hated to do it and would worry that if her father caught up with them he could use the fact that she'd lied about not being able to contact him to invalidate their marriage.

"Troy Bolton you have one of the most devious minds..." she burst out laughing in relief and couldn't continue.

"Hey!" Troy protested weakly. In truth he was so thrilled to hear that laugh he loved so much that she could have called him every name under the sun and he wouldn't have minded. They laughed together for several minutes before Troy made an effort to calm down. They still had stuff to discuss and she hadn't actually accepted his ring yet.

"Gabriella will you marry me next week?" He asked opening the box and taking out the engagement ring. "I mean it will just be a courthouse ceremony no big church wedding or anything" he rambled apologetically.

"Yes Troy I will marry you next week" Gabriella said with a beautiful smile at the boy, no man, she loved.

Troy grabbed her hands gently "Which hand do you want this on?" he asked holding out the ring. "I mean your mum wore hers on the right hand didn't she? Do you want to do that too?"

Gabriella was surprised he'd noticed that, surely he hadn't seen her mother since he came up with this plan. She thought for a moment then shook her head. "Wearing your wedding ring on the right hand is traditional for my father's country. Given that I want no part of the traditional marriage he has arranged I think I will wear it on the left like the Americans normally do."

Troy pushed the ring onto her finger then kissed her hand "Wow! A perfect fit." He said.

"That's good we wouldn't want to have to get them resized and risk not getting them back in time. Have you tried yours on? Or are you going to use your Wildcats ring?" Gabriella asked thinking she should offer to buy him a ring and wondering how she'd manage to purchase one without anyone finding out.

Troy laughed "That would be one way to hide it." He said as he shook his head showing her the matching wedding bands.

She took the larger of the two rings out and helped him put it on the appropriate finger, it also fit perfectly. "You want to hide our marriage?" she asked uncertainly, surprisingly a little hurt by the idea.

"No Baby, I want to shout it out to everyone that you are mine. But we'll have to hide our engagement until after the ceremony cause if my Dad finds out he'll tell your Mum, and they'll try to stop us."

Gabriella nodded she admired the exquisite engagement ring on her hand for a few minutes before reluctantly taking the ring off and returning it to the box and giving it back to Troy. "You better keep this then" she said "I might get tempted to try it on again and get caught. It is really beautiful."

"They were my Grandma and Grandad's from Mum's side, they eloped too and they were very happy for more than 30 years when Grandma died, I thought it might be a good omen. Grandad left them to me because he said I was the grandchild most like him. Some of my Aunts weren't too happy about it but they understood. I never met Grandma, she died when Mum was young but Grandad lived with us for several years when I was a kid and he told me lot's about her. He really loved her she died about twenty years before he did and still he talked about her every day, about how wonderful she was or how she would have loved this or that."

"It almost seems it's meant to be" Gabriella agreed smiling.

Troy leaned in and kissed her again and all thoughts of wedding planning were pushed aside as they just enjoyed being together until the warning bell rang.

They quickly packed the uneaten picnic back into the esky and ran toward the stairs. Troy pulled her to a halt before they could descend though and warned her that to keep the secret they couldn't look too happy, particularly where it might get back to Gabriella's mother.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

During his afternoon classes Troy managed to conceal his joy from the world, unwittingly helped by Chad who irritated him no end with sly smirks and innuendo about what he thought could have happened on the roof that day.

Gabriella had more difficulty but was luckily not in any classes with Taylor (the only friend likely to speak with her mother within the coming week) that afternoon except for physics where their assigned seating put them on opposite sides of the room.

At 3pm when classes let out, Troy kissed Gabriella and apologized for not walking her to her bus before running back up to the roof to collect the picnic things. He crammed several, now rather dried out, sandwiches into his mouth as he headed for Basketball practice.

While Troy and Gabriella had managed to hide their complete euphoria, the wildcats had noticed an improvement in their captain and were hopeful therefore that practice would run smoothly that day. And did it ever, Troy was on fire he didn't miss a single shot, his irritation with Chad increasing his aggressiveness in getting control of the ball as well.

Jack was in a great mood by the end of practice, the first game of the season was this Friday and with Troy back in form things were looking much brighter. There were likely to be scouts at the game too as their season started a couple of weeks earlier than most areas, and with the strongest competition in the first two weeks. Jack was hopeful that Chad might also be offered a scholarship the way the two boys worked together.

Jack still wanted to know what had upset his son so much in the last few weeks, but it was obvious Troy was never going to confide in him about this so all he could do was pray that the situation really was as resolved as Troy evidently believed it was and that his happiness would last.

Kelsi was waiting impatiently in the music room for Troy to pick her up. She couldn't concentrate on any of the songs she was in the process of writing and when she sat down to play the music just wouldn't come out right. She hadn't seen Troy at all that afternoon except from a distance as he walked Gabriella. They both looked a lot happier but something still seemed off about them and Kelsi was determined to get to the bottom of it.

She jumped up and grabbed Troy, dragging him to his truck as she heard him coming. She knew that he wouldn't talk freely in the school. With his dad as one of the teachers he could never be sure if the walls had ears or not.

Troy laughed and co-operated as Kelsi tried to drag him around.

They talked about other things while Troy drove to Kelsi's. Luckily nobody was home and Troy sat at the kitchen table while Kelsi fixed them both a snack before sitting across from him.

"Okay Troy. Spill... What's going on?" she demanded.

"I can't tell you all of it because it's not my secret to tell..." he began "but basically we got news almost two weeks ago that something was going to happen that really upset us. Last night I found out about a possible way to prevent it. But it was a very big decision to make and this morning I was nervous about telling Gabriella, I wasn't sure whether I should tell her and if she'd agree."

"And she did agree right? That's why you're so much happier now, but you're still worried about whether it's the right thing to do?"

Troy grimaced "Yeah a bit. I'm pretty sure this is the right thing to do, but it's going to take a lot of sorting out before we can tell anyone about it."

"And you can't tell me anything more? You promise you're not in trouble?"

"I promise Kels. Everything's going to be fine. I just need a little more time. There are people who won't be very happy about this but I think it's the right thing to do."

He gave her a quick hug goodbye, thanked her for the snack and headed home.

It wasn't until about an hour after Troy had gone that Kelsi realised that she still didn't know anything about what was actually going on with Troy and Gabriella. She huffed in annoyance before remembering that Troy had admitted that he couldn't really tell her a lot, which probably meant the problem originated with Gabriella and Troy was keeping secrets for her and that nothing on earth would get him to betray those secrets. Kelsi was still worried about her adopted big brother but decided to trust that he had a handle on the situation for now. She would keep her eyes open though and wait to step in if it looked like he could use her help. After thinking over the conversation she realised that she didn't want to tell the others about it. She didn't have any concrete information and Troy had promised that things were sorting themselves out and should be better soon.

"Hey Mama" Troy greeted as he arrived home "what's cooking?" He grabbed a spoon and attempted to taste his mother's spaghetti sauce "Mmm good" he mumbled as his mother smacked his hand away to prevent him taking more.

"Go and set the table it'll be ready in a few minutes."Lucille ordered thrilled to see Troy was back to his usual self. "How's Gabriella? We haven't seen her in a while."

Troy's face fell a little "No" he said quietly "She's really busy with extra credit projects lately" he explained trying to hide the fact that Gabriella was effectively grounded to keep her away from Troy. Troy couldn't let his Mum know what was going on otherwise she would have the whole plan out of him in an instant. His Mama knew him far too well. She would never believe he had accepted letting Gabriella marry someone else. He was glad now that he hadn't got around to asking her about contract lawyers.

Lucille watched as Troy's expression changed when she mentioned Gabriella. She wanted to ask Troy about it but didn't want to risk having him clam up on her like he did last time she'd asked. She didn't know if Troy had fully forgiven her for assuming Gabriella was pregnant, and was still treading on eggshells around him.

After dinner he hurried to his room to text Gabriella to see if she was alone and available to talk. She would then ring back a few moments later, because it was better if Maria didn't hear the ringtone Gabriella had dedicated to Troy alone, otherwise she would come and interrupt, taking Gabriella's phone away for the night.

Gabriella rang back about ten minutes later "Can't talk love, we have guests" she whispered.

"It's not your Dad is it because that would ruin everything?"Troy asked anxiously.

"No it's Mum's sister, and she's furious about the whole marriage contract. She wants to take me away and hide me until I'm eighteen, apparently if they could put it off until then I can just refuse but until then Dad can consent to the marriage for me."

"That's sounds like it would've been a good plan. Why didn't your mother do that?" Troy asked almost angrily.

Gabriella sighed and tried to calm him down. "Actually she tried, that's why we've moved so often, she stopped because she realised I wasn't even trying to make friends any more knowing we would be moving again so soon. She said she wanted me to have at least one normal year of high school" Gabriella explained.

"How are you keeping up the charade, does your mother suspect anything? I think my folks do, Dad anyway, I played too well today to be depressed."

"It's fine Troy, I'm too angry with Mum to be happy when she's around. I've got to go before we get caught."

"Okay, call me later when the coast is clear and I'll come over. I love you."

"I love you too" she disconnected without saying goodbye. She'd come to hate that word in the last fortnight and was never going to say it to Troy ever again.

Gabriella rejoined her feuding aunt and mother, and began to try to diffuse the situation, going into hiding with her aunt would have been the answer to a prayer the day before, and she knew it was the sensible thing to do. Going with her aunt would still take her away from all her friends and she would have to cut off all contact while she was in hiding. But eventually she would be eighteen and able to refuse the marriage. She could still go to Stanford and if Troy went to school nearby they could continue their relationship and get married after college when they were ready.

She was surprised by how disappointed this idea made her feel. Until her aunt had made the offer to hide her she had thought that marrying Troy was a desperate action; that she agreed because it was her only way out, and though she did love him and had dreamed of marrying him when they grew up she had not believed that she was ready to get married. But if she felt more disappointed than relieved at the possibility of an alternative solution, then didn't that mean that she really did want to marry Troy straight away even if she was still a bit frightened by the idea too? And if she was disappointed by the possible change of plans, wouldn't Troy be even more upset? He had seemed totally committed to the wedding and he'd had more time to plan and think about it. And he hadn't proposed to save himself but to save her from having to marry a stranger. Proposing had involved quite a sacrifice for Troy; he'd made that decision unhesitatingly and hadn't expressed any doubts that it was the right thing for them both. She didn't want to hurt him. But then again she didn't want to force him into marriage either. Would Troy be relieved there might be another possibility?

And was this truly another solution. Her father and Eduardo had found them once, and Gabriella's eighteenth birthday wasn't until the June after next, more than seventeen months away, would he be able to find them again before then. Even if by some miracle he didn't find them Gabriella would never feel safe, always looking over her shoulder waiting for them to turn up and force her into marriage to Eduardo. Could she live with the constant fear of being found without going mad? She doubted there would be any delay or opportunity to escape if they found her again. Gabriella's thoughts whirled around until she almost felt dizzy, what should she do?

She went upstairs to make herself a list of pros and cons, the way she and her mother had done when deciding to accept yet another transfer. She had become a bit cynical about this the last few times, thinking that her mother was trying to make her feel involved in the decision making process when really her mind was made up – they were moving again and she just wanted Gabriella not to resent her for it. This made more sense now too, Maria had had a huge incentive to move to hide that Gabriella hadn't known about. Part of Gabriella was glad she hadn't known otherwise she would never have begged her mother to stop moving and she would have arrived in Albuquerque expecting to only stay 4-5 months. It would then have been just like all her other schools. She would've stopped herself from making friends, knowing friends made it harder to leave a place, and she never would have gone out with Troy or committed herself to a major part in the musicale no matter how much she may have wanted to. Until they moved to Albuquerque and her mum had promised they would be there for 18 months Gabriella had pretty much put all thoughts of a social life on hold until college.

Okay here goes

Pros for going into hiding:

I wouldn't be trapping Troy into early marriage.

It was the sensible thing to do.

If Mum helped us hide, then I'd know she really cares about me.

Cons for going into hiding:

The risk of being found and force to marry Eduardo.

I wouldn't feel safe until I was 18. Would I be a nervous wreck by then?

I'd still have to leave East High and all my friends.

Starting a new school again.

18 months without any contact with her mum.

18 months without seeing Troy.

Troy. Would he be disappointed the wedding was off?

Would Troy wait for me? Could we take up our relationship again in college?

Would things with Troy ever be the same again if I rejected him? Would he understand that I still loved him?

All the girls at East High trying to comfort Troy after I leave.

Having to put off going to college an extra year. Would I lose my chances of a scholarship?

Pros for getting married:

I love Troy.

I'd be with Troy and no-one could separate them.

I could stay at East high with all my friend's.

I've already accepted, Troy would be hurt if I changed my mind?

Going to Stanford next year like I had planned

Cons getting married:

Are we ready for such a commitment?

We'd have to have sex, I don't think I'm ready for that?

I'd have to tell Troy that I've kind of lied to him. Would he think I am too young?

Would Troy resent me later for taking so many choices away from him?

Statistics show that most teen marriages failed in the first year. Could we beat the odds?

Troy's Mum and Dad would be furious.

What if the Bolton's and her Mum threw them out of the house?

Would their parents still help with college funds if we were married?

Looking at her lists she noticed that most of the cons on the marriage list were questions not statements. Maybe she should talk to Troy about it. In her heart she wanted to marry Troy, it felt like the right thing to do even though she knew nobody was likely to agree with them that. She added a final entry to the marriage pros list

I want to


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Hiding the lists, she returned to her homework which like Troy's had been neglected lately. She couldn't make a decision until she spoke to Troy. And if she did go into hiding she would need to do well on these assignments to maintain her grades while changing schools. Maybe she could talk her aunt into waiting to hide until the last minute, that would be better anyway it would give them less time to find her before the wedding, especially if her Mum wasn't on her side. That would be a good idea whichever way she chose then if Maria or the Boltons managed to prevent Troy from marrying her then she would still have a back-up way out of marrying Eduardo.

As she finished her homework an hour later she could still hear her aunt arguing, so she went downstairs to talk to her. "Aunt Ginevra, Mum calm down you've been at it for hours and neither of you are listening to the other. This is my life shouldn't it be my decision." Gabriella shouted, startling the adults into silence. "Okay now present your point of view one at a time."

"Both adults started speaking at once, raising their voices to be heard and slipping back into Spanish as their emotions escalated."

Gabriella covered her ears "Stop! Now you're both yelling at me and I can't understand you" She yelled at the top of her voice. She pointed to her mother "Mum shush, sit down and let Aunt Ginevra tell me her plan and then you can tell me why you think it's no good."

Her mother seemed about to explode, but Gabriella turned her back on her, looking at her aunt she said. "Okay you have 5 minutes. What are you fighting about.

Ginevra took a deep breath and started "I want to take you away, you can stay with me until you are eighteen then your father cannot force you into marriage without your consent."

"Okay, that sounds like a reasonable plan. Why are you fighting this Mum?"

"It won't work. If you transfer schools all your father has to do is show East High's principle the court order granting him custody of you and they will have to tell him where you've gone. Your father will be angry that you ran away, and if Eduardo finds out he will be angry too. You will have much less freedom after this. It could make things much worse."

"What if I don't transfer schools? I'll have enough credits to graduate this semester if I want to."

Unknown to the women in the house, a young man stood in the garden just out of sight of the window listening to the conversation and revising his plans.

"I didn't think of that" Maria admitted, "but what if they are having the house watched. Alejandro and Eduardo are both powerful men used to getting their own way. And they know I have run before, they may have taken precautions."

"Will graduating early affect college acceptances?" Ginevra asked, "I don't want to risk your future."

"Married to Eduardo I won't have a future" Gabriella muttered. "Mum I think that it's worth the risks."

"Is this about Troy?" her mother demanded "Your relationship isn't likely to survive the separation so you need to make decisions without considering what will happen with him."

"You don't know that." Gabriella yelled at her mother, "and even if I didn't have Troy I don't want to marry a complete stranger."

Maria sighed, "Eduardo isn't a stranger, you quite liked him when you were small."

"I don't remember him, and even if I did he's twice my age. He would have been an adult when I was a child it isn't like we could have been friends." She turned to her aunt "Can we wait until the end of term so I have enough credits to graduate, and then go. It will give them less time to find me too, so long as we get away. Where would we go?"

"I think it's better if you don't know that in advance don't you?" said Ginevra, "I don't want to risk you telling your friends and one of them giving us away."

"My friends wouldn't do that!" Gabriella protested angrily.

"Not intentionally perhaps, but you shouldn't even tell them you are leaving. You can leave letters explaining everything and that you will contact them after your eighteenth birthday" Ginevra was determined that the boy, Troy was it, not be told where Gabriella was going or have a way to contact them.

"Can't I call them?" Gabriella asked shocked.

"No! You must leave your phone behind and close all your email, facebook, messenger and twitter accounts if you do this. Otherwise they could use them to trace you. And you mustn't ever call them in case your father has managed to intercept their calls." Maria interrupted the conversation. "You won't be able to call me either" she added sadly.

"You should come with us." Ginevra stated, worried about her sister. "If they are going to be as angry as you say they will, then you shouldn't be here when they find out either."

Gabriella frowned, she hadn't thought of that. It sounded like her mother and aunt were afraid of Eduardo and her father. "What exactly are you both afraid of?" she asked hesitantly "Do you think they could be violent, could they hurt you or my friends if they can't find me?" as much as she hated the idea of marrying Eduardo she hadn't thought her mother would be harmed by her refusal. But thinking it over Gabriella knew that even to protect her mother she couldn't go through with the wedding.

Maria and Ginevra exchanged glances. "No I'm sure they won't" Maria smoothed. "If you want to go through with it I won't stop you, I'll be leaving Albuquerque anyway so if you go with Ginevra at the same time as I leave then they'll waste time trying to find me before they realize we're not together. By then the trail will be cold and you should be safe."

Gabriella didn't entirely believe them, if Eduardo and her father were dangerous maybe running and hiding was the best option. Surely they wouldn't hurt her friends when it was obvious no-one knew where she was. If she married Troy, would they hurt him, maybe beat him into signing divorce papers or worse could they kill him. Or did they have the financial power to ruin Troy's future. Would they offer to pay him to divorce her with threats of violence or ruin if he did not. Gabriella's imagination began to run away with her. She knew Troy was stubborn and wouldn't give in easily. He could be seriously hurt, what if he was injured to the point he could no longer play basketball? Would he end up hating her for it? She began to panic.

"Can I have some time to think it over?" she asked.

"Sure Honey" her aunt replied. "We can't leave yet if you need to finish the semester to graduate. Just remember you must not talk it over with your friends no matter how much you trust them. Your father can be very tricky and they may give too much away without meaning to betray you."

Gabriella looked her mother straight in the eye. "I need you to be honest with me Mum. Is there any chance they will hurt Troy or my friends when they can't find me."

"You would marry Eduardo just to prevent Troy being hurt? He truly means that much to you mija?"

"Answer the question, Mum" Gabriella said in a hard flat tone staring at her mother.

"Yes, they might. But they will have no reason to hurt Troy if you have been staying away from him like I told you to," Maria replied softly. In truth she doubted that they would resort to violence, they never had in the past, once she knew they'd been found she'd rung former friends and colleagues to check on what methods Alejandro and his employees may have used. Maria just wanted to be sure her daughter had obeyed her orders not to spend time with her ex-boyfriend.

"Gabi" her aunt said softly "you can't marry Eduardo to keep some boy safe. If they realize how much he means to you then they would always be able to hold the threat of hurting him over your head. They'd be able to control you completely."

"I never intended to marry Eduardo. I would have run off on my own or something if you hadn't offered to help me." With this parting shot, she went upstairs to revise her lists and wait for Troy.

Pros for going into hiding:

I wouldn't be trapping Troy into early marriage.

It is the sensible thing to do.

If Mum helped us hide, then I'd know she really cares about me.

Cons for going into hiding:

The risk of being found and force to marry Eduardo.

I wouldn't feel safe until I was 18. Would I be a nervous wreck by then?

I'd still have to leave east high and all my friends.

Starting a new school again

18 months without any contact with my mum.

18 months without seeing or talking with Troy.

Troy. Would he be disappointed the wedding was off?

Would Troy wait for me? Could we take up our relationship again in college?

Would things with Troy ever be the same again if I rejected him? Would he understand that I still loved him?

All the girls at east high trying to comfort Troy after I leave.

Having to put off going to college an extra year. Would I lose my chances of a scholarship?

Dad and Eduardo will look for mum first. Will they hurt her if they find her and I'm not there?

18 months with no contact with Troy or anyone

Graduating early. Will it harm my college acceptances?

What will I for 18 months with no friends and no school?

Still a risk Troy will get hurt if they think he knows how to contact me.

I'd have to break up with Troy immediately and stop all contact in case someone's watching.

Aunt Ginevra would have to go into hiding too in case they already know where she lives. It's a lot to ask and it puts her at risk if we're found.

Watching other girls try to comfort Troy.

If I break up with Troy will he hate me? It can't just be pretend this time.

Pros for getting married:

I love Troy.

I'd be with Troy and no-one could separate them.

I could stay at East high with all my friend's.

I've already accepted, Troy would be hurt if I changed my mind?

Going to Stanford next year like I had planned

I want to.

Cons getting married:

Were we ready for such a commitment?

We'd have to have sex, I don't think I'm ready for that?

I'd have to tell Troy that I've kind of lied to him. Would he think I am too young?

Would Troy resent me later for taking so many choices away from him?

Statistics show that most teen marriages failed in the first year. Could we beat the odds?

Troy's Mum and Dad would be furious.

What if the Bolton's and her Mum threw them out of the house?

Would their parents still help with college funds if we were married?

Would her father and/or Eduardo. hurt Troy when they found out?

Could they force Troy to divorce me?

The young man in garden kept listening but once it was obvious nothing further was going to be said about avoiding the marriage contract he slowly crept away. Troy's mind was in far too much turmoil to confront Gabriella, he needed to think first. He turned his phone off not wanting to talk to anyone and headed home wondering if Gabriella had only accepted his proposal to get away from Eduardo. Had she seen it as the only way out of marrying the bastard? Did she not truly want to marry Troy? Was it just the better two horrible choices?

Troy was almost home when it occurred to him that Gabriella would have had to pretend to sound enthusiastic about her aunt's plan because otherwise her mother and her aunt could suspect she already had a plan of her own, and that Gabriella had put off running away with her aunt until after their wedding day. He also realised that this new plan of Gabriella's aunt would make Mrs. Montez less accepting of their marriage as it now wasn't the only solution.

Turning his phone back on he found a new message from Gabriella asking him to call her. Dialling he began jogging back towards the love of his life, hoping the new plan was just a smokescreen on Gabriella's part.

"Hey Wildcat" Gabriella answered her phone.

"Hey Babe. Is your Mum asleep"

"Not yet Aunt Ginevra is just leaving."

"Did she and your Mum get their fight sorted? Are they going to take you into hiding?" he asked as if he hadn't already heard.

"I need to talk to you about that." Gabriella replied softly. Troy's blood seemed to turn to ice, maybe she wasn't just pretending to go along with the plan.

"Troy, are you there?" Gabriella asked as time passed without Troy answering.

"I'm here Gabi, I'll be there soon Okay?" Troy ended the call without letting her respond. This was one conversation they were not going to have over the phone, or in the dark. He needed to see her eyes as she explained what was going on.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Belatedly Gabriella realised that she had hurt Troy again. She didn't want to hurt him. Keeping Troy safe would be the only reason not to marry him if he still wanted to even if there was another solution. She put down her phone, grabbed the extra blanket from the cupboard and tried to go out onto the balcony to wait for Troy. Unfortunately it was still locked and her mother hadn't returned the key. She'd have to wait for Troy to come and unlock it. She thanked Heaven again that she'd had that extra key cut for Troy, it had been more of a symbolic gesture at the time because he always rang before coming and she would unlock the door to let him know he was welcome, but it had been a godsend in the last fortnight. She honestly thought she would have completely drowned in tears by now without him holding her at night.

Troy arrived on the balcony with a very soft thud; all the extra practice in the last fortnight and the knowledge that he would lose access if he were caught had improved his silent tree climbing technique. He was afraid that instead of calling his mother, Maria might even call the police if she caught him now. Troy and Maria had always gotten along well in the past, each knowing that the other would always put Gabriella's needs first. But now they had such different views on what was best for Gabriella, and Maria wasn't prepared to listen to anything Troy had to say.

He saw Gabriella standing by the door waiting for him and she quickly threw herself into his arms as he opened the door. Lifting her up, he moved to carry her to the bed. She stopped him, "No Troy Mum's still awake. It's not safe for you to be here yet" she said quietly.

"I'll come back in about an hour" offered Troy.

Gabriella shook her head and led him into the walk in robe closing the door behind them leaving them in darkness. Troy leaned on the top of the chest of drawers inside the wardrobe, and pulled her to him.

"Okay Gabi now tell me about your Aunt's plan" he asked hesitantly.

"Ginevra wants to take me away with her. I'd graduate early and we'd hide until I was eighteen. She has agreed to let me finish the semester at East High and then we'll both go into hiding. Mum will leave too, she's accepted a transfer starting in January, so that if Dad and Eduardo try to come after us they will probably look for her first. Aunt Ginevra's accepted a job in France, so we'll be hard to find, then when I'm eighteen I'll come back and go to Stanford."

"Is that what you want to do?" Troy asked his heart in his throat. Six months in France was a great opportunity and he couldn't deprive her of going if she wanted to. He was just as worried as she was of being resented one day in the future if they went through with their marriage.

"I don't know Troy" she answered watching his face fall. "I love you but I'm afraid they'll hurt you if I stay here with you."

"Nothing could hurt me as much as losing you Gabi" he refuted, "but I don't want to trap you. This whole plan was to avoid you being forced into marriage, not to force you to marry me instead of him."

She could see the emotions in his eyes. He truly believed that losing her would hurt as much as anything her father could do. But he was scared that she would regret marrying him.

She pulled her lists out of her pocket and handed them to him, explaining "This will show you what I was thinking, Troy. Please believe I was trying to do the best thing for both of us."

He looked over the lists smiling as he read the last entry on the Pro for marriage list. Then he started to read the Cons out loud adding his comments to each.

_Were we ready for such a commitment?_

"Yes I'm ready. My heart has been committed for a while now. I learnt my lesson over the summer any future without you in it isn't worth having."

_We'd have to have sex, I don't think I'm ready for that?_

"We don't have to until you're ready Baby. Don't be scared of that I can wait."

_I'd have to tell Troy that I've kind of lied to him. Will he be angry? Would he think I am too young?_

"Lied about what Gabi?"

"Not exactly lied Troy, just kept quiet and let you assume something that wasn't right." Gabriella hedged anxiously.

"What is it Gabriella? Please just tell me." Troy begged.

"I skipped 6th Grade, Troy. I haven't told anyone in Albuquerque this but I'm not seventeen like you think I am. I'm sixteen." Gabriella said softly avoiding looking at Troy's face, afraid of his reaction.

Troy started to say something then stopped. After a few moments that seemed to Gabriella like a lifetime he said quietly "Wow. I don't know what to say." After a moment's reflection he decided that it wasn't that important and decided to shelve the issue for the moment and went back to reading the list.

_Would Troy resent me later for taking so many choices and opportunities away from him?_

"No never Baby. I had already decided to go to college near you. I've applied to every college in California with a half decent basketball team. You increase my choices Gabriella I can do anything so long as you're with me. Sing Act Dance break the status quo, make new friends, become the person I am meant to be. I couldn't have done any of it without you."

_Statistics show that most teen marriages failed in the first year. Could we beat the odds?_

"We always have before Gabi, please believe in us."

_Troy's Mum and Dad would be furious._

"Let me worry about that one they'll come around, Mum loves you, and Dad likes you too. They know I need you in my life. They'll understand"

_What if the Bolton's and her Mum threw them out of the house?_

"They won't Babe they'll only be angry because they might think we're risking our future. They won't do anything to make that worse" He looked up and gave a cheeky grin "And if they do, maybe your Aunt will take us both to France."

_Would their parents still help with college funds if we were married?_

"My college fund is in my name Dad can't take it away unless I don't get into any college. Yours is probably set up the same."

_Would her father and/or Eduardo hurt Troy when they found out?_

"I can't answer that one Gabriella, but hurting me or arranging for me to be injured or beat up after the fact wouldn't do them any good would it. They are both successful business men not hot headed teenagers. They wouldn't break the law like that without some gain to them.

_Could they force Troy to divorce me?_

"No Gabi, once you're mine I'll never let you go. I love you Gabriella, more than anything in the world." He moved onto the lists for going into hiding.

_I wouldn't be trapping Troy into early marriage._

"Gabriella Montez" he said in a stern voice "I want this marriage more than anything; you wouldn't be trapping me at all. I'd be trapping you."

_If Mum helped then I'd know she really cares about me._

"You don't need to actually leave to know that Gabi, she was planning to help wasn't she. Everything she has done is because she thinks it was the best for you." He then read through the running away cons list again.

_I wouldn't feel safe until I was 18. Would I be a nervous wreck by then?_

_I'd still have to leave east high and all my friends._

_18 months without seeing Troy_.

"Eighteen months, but what about college? I don't think I'd cope without you for eighteen months."

"Yeah I'd have to defer a year. I would need to stay in hiding until I turn eighteen."

"That sucks baby. Six months would have been bad enough."

_Troy. Would he be disappointed the wedding was off?_

"Yes I would be disappointed if you cancelled our wedding, but you are sure it is the best thing for you then I will be okay with it."

_Would Troy wait for me? Could we take up our relationship again in college?_

_Would things with Troy ever be the same again if I reject him? Would he understand that I still loved him?_

_All the girls at east high trying to comfort Troy after I leave. _

"Don't worry about them. You know none of them can even begin to offer me what we have" Troy said trying to reassure her.

"I know that Troy. But they won't be competing with what we have now. I'll be gone and you'll be on your own."

"Gabriella I love you. And yes I will be lonely without you, but no quick fuck with a cheerleader is going to make me miss you any less. I'm not that stupid."

Gabriella didn't reply, refusing to argue with him, so he returned to the list.

_Still a risk Troy will get hurt if they think he knows how to contact me._

_I'd have to break up with Troy immediately and stop all contact in case someone's watching._

_If I break up with Troy will he hate me? It can't just be pretend this time._

"I could never hate you Gabriella and if you decide to go with your Aunt I will understand. I will wait for you and we can be together in college. I will love you forever."

Hearing that all Gabriella's doubts fled, she wanted to be with Troy, marry Troy now and not be separated in the hope they could get back together later. She hugged him tight and looked up into his eyes. "I want to marry you Troy. We can keep going with Ginevra as a backup plan in case we can't get married. But staying here with you is definitely my first choice."

Troy closed his eyes and smiled in relief "I want to marry you more than anything Gabi" he said "I know we're supposed to be too young to make such a huge lifelong commitment but I'm ready. I'd want to go through with the wedding now even if Eduardo cancelled the contract." They stood there holding each other until Maria knocked on Gabriella's bedroom door.

Gabriella quickly turned off the closet light and shut the door, glanced over to make sure the French doors were closed, and opened the door to her mother.

Maria entered the room talking quickly, trying to get out what she wanted to say before Gabriella cut her off. "Gabriella mija, please think this through carefully. If you're going to do this you will need to cut off all contact with all your friends and family including me, no phone calls, no letters, no e-mail, no text. No letting anyone know that you are leaving ahead of time, just a short note left behind telling them why you are leaving with no details whatsoever, you can't even promise to contact them after your birthday. You'd be giving up an awful lot and Eduardo is not a bad man. He was a nice boy when I knew him. If you decide to go with Ginevra I will do all I can to help, but you need to accept that your relationship with Troy will be over whichever choice you make. You will both grow in different directions and all the promises in the world won't guarantee that you will both still feel the same when you come back. Or even that you will ever see each other again, plans change."

Gabriella sighed "I'll think about what you've said Mum, but I'm really beat. Can we talk more about this tomorrow?"

Maria hugged her daughter "Goodnight Mija. I love you."

"Goodnight Mum. Love you too."

Gabriella changed in the bathroom before letting Troy out of the closet. They climbed into bed setting the alarm for before dawn and he took her into his arms. "I heard what your Mum said" he said quietly "are you sure you don't want time to think it over, we still have at least another week before you have to decide."

"What she said only made me more certain that marrying you is the right thing to do. If we're together then we'll continue to grow in the same direction because we'll have the same experiences. We won't need to get to know one another all over again and adjust our expectations because we will have been through everything together and know why and how we have changed."

Troy smiled and kissed her softly "Goodnight Baby, I'll bring the paperwork to school tomorrow; you can help me finish filling it out. Make sure you bring your Birth certificate and ID so we can file it."

"Goodnight Troy"

They both drifted off to sleep. Gabriella woke in the middle of the night, smiling at the sight of Troy sleeping beside her snoring softly, luckily he didn't ever snore loudly or she couldn't have risked having him stay while she fell asleep. She woke him with kisses and he slipped out of bed and headed home to sneak back into his own house. It was just as well we are getting married next week he thought yawning, I'm sure I'll get caught if I keep sneaking out every night.

Maria was secretly impressed with the plan Ginevra had put together for taking Gabriella into hiding. It overcame most of her reasons not to have assumed an illegal identity herself. Both she and Ginevra would still be able to use their qualifications and Gabriella would leave the country under a false identity and then could use her own name to take several adult education courses that didn't require her high school transcripts. There should be very little risk that she could be traced and when she returned she would still be able to use the credit for the courses she'd completed overseas. And by finishing the semester and graduating early she would still be offered a place at Stanford, which she could then defer for a year and take it up after she turned eighteen. She thought that this plan had every chance of being successful so long as Gabriella wasn't caught or followed leaving the house and meeting with Ginevra. Maria wasn't sure how she felt about this. It would mean that she wouldn't even be able to talk to her daughter for more that eighteen months and she would miss her terribly. On the other hand Gabriella would be free to go to college and to fall in love someday, and that freedom was worth making some sacrifices for. She decided she would do whatever she could to assist them if Gabriella wanted to go with Ginevra. She just had to work out how to help in a way that Eduardo and Alejandro couldn't trace any of the assistance back to her when they found out that Gabriella had done a runner.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

November 28 Thursday

The next day during free period Gabriella snuck into an empty classroom and filled in her half of the wedding application form while Troy was at free period basketball practice, and now they stood in line at the courthouse eating lunch as they waited for the clerk to check over their form and sign off on having seen the accompanying documentation so the application could be processed.

"You'll both need blood tests done" the clerk told them frowning at Gabriella "and if I were you missy unless you're already pregnant I'd be asking the doctor about more effective ways of birth control. The only thing worse than a broken marriage is getting caught holding the baby."

Troy and Gabriella both turned scarlet "Troy would never do that to me" Gabriella spluttered while Troy shouted "No it's not like that..."

The clerk smirked "Trust me sonny it will soon be like that if ya get yerself married without thinking it through properly."

Now the form's all okay ya just need to bleed, the clinic 'round the corner will do it quickly for ya and send us the results in a coupla days if ya ask them."

Gabriella and Troy turned and walked out of the courthouse quickly both glad to leave the crude old lady behind both of them hoping that she was just the clerk and wouldn't be present at their wedding.

They just had time to visit the doctor before heading back to school. Troy was in and out quickly, the doctor took his blood and signed the form in the appropriate place without comment telling him that the results would be sent straight to the courthouse unless he wanted to collect them himself which he declined. Gabriella took a little longer and came out of the doctor's office blushing madly. Troy figured that she'd taken the clerk's well meant if crudely delivered advice and was prepared to let the matter drop, but it seemed that nothing could be that simple. Gabriella could barely bring herself to look at Troy for the rest of the afternoon.

She also seemed to be ignoring his texts all day too. It wasn't a good sign they were getting married in eight days and if she was so embarrassed after just talking about birth control with the doctor that she couldn't even communicate via text then their wedding night would be a huge ordeal for her. Troy tried to be patient but became more frustrated and worried as the day went by.

Finally it was eleven o'clock at night and they still hadn't really talked so he carefully let himself out of the house and headed over to Gabriella's. One thing all these clandestine visits had done was to increase his endurance and long distance speed, he was now able to run almost flat out for the entire 3 mile to Gabriella's house without being too out of breath to climb the tree as soon as he got there.

He let himself into her room, she appeared to be asleep but when he climbed into the bed to gather her into his arms he knew she was pretending, her body was way too tense.

Troy took a deep breath and forced himself to bring up the issue. "Okay Gabriella" he said quietly "I get it that the doctor embarrassed you and normally I'd leave it alone and let you forget about it, but we're getting married in eight days. We need to be able to talk about stuff like this." He waited for a moment but she didn't respond. "Baby? Are you having second thoughts about getting married?" Troy held his breath fearing her answer. After all the excitement and anticipation of the last few days he didn't think he'd survive if she changed her mind.

Gabriella rolled over to look at him. "No" she said in a small voice "It's just I need to talk to you about something and I have no idea how to do that."

"What is it Baby? You know you can always tell me anything" he encouraged "I know it can be difficult to talk about this stuff but we can't afford to avoid it much longer."

Gabriella took a huge breath in and blurted out "The Doctor today said she couldn't give me any birth control pills or anything today without Mum's consent, I don't know what to do. I think Mum might consent to me getting it right before we go to Cuba for the wedding but she'll want to wait until the last minute so it doesn't give me any ideas, that will be too late."

Troy laughed at this "Yeah like we would never think about doing it without a Doctor giving us ideas." Troy's laughter trailed of nervously when Gabriella remained looking anxious. He thought for a minute "Did the doctor say anything about after the wedding... I mean will you still need your mum's consent or could I consent for you as your husband?" The word 'husband' shook both of them a little, they had been focusing so much on the wedding, not what would come afterwards. Husband seemed much more serious than getting married for some reason. Troy realised that he would then be responsible for Gabriella's happiness and well being. He was already almost too overprotective of Gabriella, his teammates teased him about it all the time. But after the wedding it would be his job to protect her even more than he did now.

"I don't know. Maybe but that would be awfully embarrassing" she muttered.

Gabriella's reply brought his mind back to their conversation and he hurried to reassure her. "Isn't it better that we both are embarrassed a bit by talking about this now than risking having you get pregnant Gabi? I mean I do want to have children with you one day but I'm not ready for that yet and I know you're not either, it would be better if we both finish college first. And it'll be less embarrassing to ask the Doctor for birth control than to have to ask for a pregnancy test because we didn't take precautions when we should have, at least the doctor shouldn't disapprove of us being responsible about things." He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue despite his embarrassment. "Did the doctor recommend you go on the pill then?" He asked knowing Gabriella would be less embarrassed discussing this in front of the doctor if they had already talked it over in private.

Gabriella took a deep breath, Troy was right they had to be able to trust each other and talk about this. "No there is a shot that works for 3 months that would be better; the doctor said this was the most reliable method so long as you remember to go back every 3 months. The pill can fail if I forget to take it or if I'm sick or stuff" Gabriella replied. Troy was right they did need to talk about this and his matter of fact attitude was helping her get over her embarrassment.

"Okay the clinic is open on Saturday I'll go and ask the doctor if I can consent for you after the wedding, and if I can I'll make an appointment for next weekend. If not you'll just have to ask your Mum to take you to get it, maybe you could pretend you researched it on the internet or something and then make sure you go to a different doctor's clinic so she doesn't realise you already tried to go on your own" Troy planned.

"You'd do that for me?" She asked amazed.

"Baby I'd do anything for you. Don't you know that? Now stop worrying about it until I've had a chance to speak to the doctor." Troy replied cuddling her.

Gabriella agreed and started to relax.

"Now I'm sorry Babe, but I've got to go. If I don't get home and get some sleep I won't have enough energy for the game tomorrow. And getting grounded at this point could be a disaster." He kissed her deeply and then headed toward the window.

"Goodnight Troy, see you tomorrow. Text me when you get in so I know you made it okay." She didn't often ask him to do this but he looked so exhausted that she was worried about him.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

November 29 Friday

Wildcat mania had hit the school the next morning, and Troy was swamped with well wishers. He was unable to drive Gabriella to school yet again and unfortunately their separate arrivals were starting to be noticed not only by his friends who looked at Troy's and Gabriella's solo entrances with concern, but also by the unattached female population who began to speculate that East High's King might soon be looking for a new Queen. The number of girls constantly flirting with Troy had always annoyed Gabriella but it was now reaching epic proportions and added to all the other stress in her life she was almost ready to explode.

The only thing keeping her temper in check was Troy's attitude to the attention; he was polite but distant, never favouring any one girl over any other, deliberately oblivious to their flirting. His eyes lit up at the sight of her and what had very obviously been a small fake and rather cool polite smile became warm and genuine when he looked at her. She ran towards him and when she showed no signs of slowing down Troy opened his arms to catch her with a hug and swung her around (scattering the hangers on). Troy was a little surprised; Gabriella would normally shy away from this type of attention, wanting to be known for more than being the basketball captain's girlfriend.

They joined their friends, brushing off questions as to why Troy was no longer driving Gabriella to school. "Maybe I should get a ride in with Dad and claim my truck's broken down" he whispered to Gabriella.

"And give Chad even more reason to tease you about it?" Laughed Gabriella.

Troy laughed too "It'd almost be worth it, if they get any worse I won't be able to get through the halls in time not to be late for class. I'd gladly put up with the guys ribbing to go back to having everyone know and accept that I'm not available."

Sharpay had also noticed the strange behaviour between Troy and Gabriella. How they seemed to be together some times and not at others and their apathy a few weeks earlier which seemed to have developed into a peculiar tension between them at times. After her humiliating rejection over the summer she was no longer interested in pursuing Troy as a boyfriend but if the golden couple broke up then they wouldn't both be interested in auditioning for the leads in the senior musical. Now all she had to do was come up with a way to make sure that it was Troy that auditioned not Gabriella. The scheduling of the musical would help, Basketball season would be finished but with a bit of prompting maybe the scholastic decathlon finals could be arranged for the same week as auditions again this year. What she really needed was a musical that was famous enough for Troy to know that there were two good male roles so that he wouldn't be competing with Ryan for the lead. She started reviewing musicals trying to find one that would fit her needs. Then all she would have to do was to convince Ms Darbus to use it instead of whatever Kelsi was currently writing. Maybe she should talk to Kelsi and point out that Troy and Gabriella were having problems and that it was likely Gabriella wouldn't be taking part in the spring musicale, and try to convince her to write a musical that was better suited to Troy Ryan and herself in the lead roles.

It was a typical pregame day with the constant attention from strangers and interruptions by acquaintances wanting to wish their captain well until they escaped from the hype and made their way to the roof at lunch time. They sat eating quietly with Troy lying with his head in her lap. Gabriella played with his hair with her free hand trying to help him relax. Troy had always been tense on game days. Chad and some of the others seemed to enjoy all the attention but to Troy it all just added to the pressure. It had been worse now that he was a senior listening his father's increasingly frequent speeches of the need to impress the college scouts to obtain a scholarship. He treasured this quiet time with Gabriella, knowing she wouldn't bring up Basketball or pressure him to concentrate on anything serious. By the end of the lunch break Troy was calm and ready to deal with the hype again without stressing out.

"I don't know what I would do without you to keep me calm before a game, thank you" he said kissing her gently as they prepared to re-enter the school.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere isn't it" Gabriella replied smiling.

It took a lot of convincing for Maria to allow Gabriella to go to the game. It was only the fact that she always had gone to every game and that she was close friends with half the team not just Troy and that all of their other friends also would be there that had enabled Gabriella to convince her mother that her absence would be out of character, and would be noticed. In the end Maria had little choice as she was the one encouraging Gabriella to behave as normally as possible so that her friends wouldn't know she was preparing to leave.

Maria decided to accompany Gabriella to the game, this wouldn't be remarked upon as Maria had been to several of Troy's games with her daughter before, and she wanted to keep an eye on Gabriella.

Gabriella and her mother made it to the stadium about two minutes before the start and though she didn't get to talk to Troy, she made sure he noticed that she was there sitting with Taylor and Kelsi before the game started.

Troy played better than she'd ever seen him play before, what should have been a close game against their closest rivals quickly turned into a white wash with Troy single-handedly outscoring the other team. Gabriella screamed herself hoarse, and was very angry when Maria prevented her from running down to congratulate Troy at the end of the game. Her mother gave her a stern look reminding her of the need to keep her distance from Troy, and they quickly left the stadium. They were barely out of the parking lot when Gabriella's friends started calling and texting, worried when they saw her leave without speaking to Troy.

Gabriella ignored the calls and shut off her phone hoping her mother didn't notice. She knew she couldn't explain her behaviour to her friends with her mom in hearing range. Her friends wouldn't understand why she was distancing herself from Troy all of a sudden and Maria believed that she and Troy had broken up weeks ago and would expect that her friends would already know about it and not have expected her to go up and congratulate him after the game.

Troy for his part returned to the locker rooms once he realized that Gabriella wouldn't be able to come to congratulate him after the game. He hid there until Jack dragged him out to speak with the scout from the Redhawks and from UNM. He stayed in Jack's office discussing the details of the scholarship offers both schools would likely make in the next few weeks. He felt slightly guilty talking to the scouts letting them and Coach Bolton believe that he would accept their scholarship offer when he already knew he was unlikely to even consider attending either school but it was too soon to let his father know he was planning on following Gabriella to California.

Troy then waited around the office until his Dad was ready to go and then left with him leaving his car in the parking lot for the night.

Jack and Lucille were highly confused and slightly concerned by their son's post game behaviour. Usually the congratulations and celebrations after winning a game was the one time Troy enjoyed the attention which came with being the school basketball star. He'd normally hang around in the gym with Gabriella and the team until they were kicked out, and then make their way to some team celebration at the local pizza parlour before barely running in the door in time for curfew.

"What's up Troy? Why aren't you going out with the team?" Jack asked.

Troy sighed "I would love to hang with the guys..." he trailed off not sure how to explain the problem in front of his Mom.

"Then what's the problem?" Jack wouldn't let it go.

"Well... Gabriella's Mom has plans for tonight and they had to go..." Troy hastily made excuses for his girlfriend's odd behaviour, "and 'cause she didn't come and congratulate me after the game, the fan girls will go nuts... if I'm seen out partying without Gabriella it will only make things worse. I don't want to give any of them the opportunity to hit on me because you can bet stories will get back to Gabriella even if I don't encourage them someone could twist the story to try to get Gabriella to break up with me and I don't want her to be hurt."

"That's some ego you've got there, Son" Jack laughed.

"No I'm not joking Dad, they are seriously stalking me lately" Jack laughed again, and then sobered as he recalled several instances when he'd seen Troy and Gabriella in the hallways lately looking harassed, and remembered the increase in female audience at recent practices.

"Honey, are you and Gabriella having difficulties?" Lucille asked hesitantly remembering how unwilling Troy had been to talk to them recently in spite of his obvious distress.

"No Mama everything's fine we've just both been busy, and stuff" Troy replied pulling out his phone to indicate an end to the conversation with his parents.

"Well alright then. Why don't you invite her to lunch on Sunday?"

"Okay Mom" Troy replied absently, no longer listening.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

November 30 Sat Troy's Day

Troy woke early the next morning and quickly got ready to go out before he could be caught by his Dad to rehash last night's game. He checked his messages as he walked out to his truck, finding one from Gabriella telling him she was going wedding dress shopping with her mum and would have her phone turned off. 'Wedding Dress Shopping' he frowned, that made no sense. She couldn't take her Mum to buy a dress for their wedding and Maria knew Gabriella wasn't going to marry Eduardo didn't she? Deciding to wait for Gabriella to explain later rather than worry yet, he put it out of his mind as he headed towards the Doctor.

The street was busy this morning and he had to park a couple of blocks away. Getting out of the car, he saw he was near the old chapel Gabriella had admired when he first showed her around Albuquerque. On impulse he stepped inside to find an elderly man laying out the prayer books.

"Hello young man" the minister greeted. "What brings you into my little church on this fine day?"

"I'm just looking, my girlfriend loves the outside of this church but we've never seen it open before."

"That's because it isn't used much as a church any more. We have bible studies for children Saturday mornings and the occasional wedding, not many mind most people prefer the new bigger church. This old building doesn't have any heat or electricity so it's a bit cold most of the time."

Troy understood that, though the day was warm the church was a little chilly and dark, it would be warmer in the afternoon though the morning sun was blocked by nearby buildings but recent demolition had temporarily cleared the west side of the chapel. Troy had an idea, "you said you conduct weddings sir would you be willing to marry my girlfriend and I next Friday?"

The elderly minister looked taken aback for a minute "Aren't you a little young to be getting married son."

"No, well Yes... I guess maybe, but we can't wait it's complicated."

"A baby on the way and you want to do the honourable thing?" The reverend asked gently.

Troy blushed and stammered "No... It's not that... We've never..."

"I'll need to know why before I will agree to marry you son." The minister said gently, "and sometimes a complete outsider can help"

Troy thought quickly "You'd have to promise not to tell anybody, please Sir" he begged.

"My profession requires me to keep confidences so long as no-one is going to be hurt if I don't speak out." The minister assured him. "Why don't you sit down and tell me all about it."

Troy sat and told the minister about the marriage contract, how much Gabriella hated the idea of marrying a stranger and how much he loved Gabriella and couldn't lose her and about the solution they had found. The old man was a sympathetic listener and with a little encouragement Troy spoke freely saying far more than he had intended to. "We are going to get married in the registry office next Friday at 4 o'clock, but I feel I'm cheating Gabriella out of a proper wedding. Gabriella assures me it doesn't matter, and I know that we could have a proper Wedding later if she wants to, but she deserves better. Neither of us are terribly religious or go to church service regularly but she loves this old church and our marriage will feel more real if it was done by a minister."

Reverend Anderson smiled, he liked this young man who spoke so openly of his love for his girlfriend. "You're a good boy Troy. I can tell how much you love your Gabriella. Yes I will marry you at four o'clock on Friday" he agreed.

"Thank you so much. Um... am I supposed to... I mean... Do you have a fee..." Troy stuttered, not wanting to insult the minister.

"No Troy I won't charge you a fee; it will be a joy to marry a couple so truly in love. Now for the legal details, you will need at least two witnesses to attend the ceremony and sign the marriage certificate. And I would recommend you ask someone to bring a camera, you will want photos to remember the day even if they're just snapshots."

"Oh I didn't know about witnesses" Troy replied. "I don't know who to ask"

Traditionally one's best man and maid of honour sign the certificate; surely you can trust your best friends."

"I can trust Chad to always try to do what he thinks is best for me, but I don't know that he'd think this is what would be best. He thinks Gabriella has too much influence already. He's never been in love, so he doesn't understand."

"Don't underestimate him my young friend; he is your best-friend if you make him promise not to tell anyone I think you could trust him. It is not like the secret needs to be kept for very long."

"That's true I could tell him after school on Friday then even if he had doubts he'd try to talk me out of it first, and there wouldn't be time for him make up and carry out some crazy plan to have the wedding stopped."

"Another Question Troy, Are you so sure Gabriella's mother will try to stop the wedding? That consent form she signed would only enable her daughter to marry here in New Mexico, and you said the wedding was going to be in Detroit, there was no reason for her to have even applied for this form let alone have signed it, she would need to sign the consent forms specific to the state of Michigan. Maybe she was trying to offer her daughter a way out if Gabriella was determined enough to find it."

"I'm not sure where the wedding was going to be only that Gabriella said her father and her fiancé live in or near Detroit. How do I find out though, about Mrs Montez I mean? I would like her to come to our wedding if possible but I don't want to put it at risk. Also if she comes I should ask my parents too. They can't legally stop me even if they want to; I was just worried about them telling Mrs Montez."

"Will your parents not understand if you explain Troy? All these secrets and lies are a poor way to start a marriage. Remember it is not just you and Gabriella, you're marrying into her family and she's marrying into yours. Teen marriages are hard enough without the stress of fighting with your families as well."

"You've given me a lot to think about Sir. Thank you for your advice."

"I forgot to introduce myself didn't I, my name is Reverend Anderson"

Troy smiled and offered his hand "It is a real pleasure to meet you Reverend Anderson, but I'm afraid I must go now. I'll see you on Friday."

"What is it that has you rushing away, remember when you look back on your wedding day what you will remember won't be the suit you wore or the flowers or dresses, or the decorations or wedding cake, it will be the vows you make, the feelings you and Gabriella have for each other and the people that shared the occasion with you. It will be the same for Gabriella too. Don't stress yourself too much with the small details it will all work out."

"Yes Sir. I mean Reverend. I'll keep that in mind." He blushed how to explain his next errand to this holy man. "I need to visit the doctor, when we were there for the blood tests the other day they told Gabriella that they couldn't give her any birth control without her mother's permission. I said I would ask them if I could consent for her after the wedding. Gabriella wants to study law and she's been accepted into Stanford. A baby now would ruin her future."

"That's very responsible of you Troy."

Troy blushed even more and looked at his feet in silence.

"Here now I'll give you my number and if you need to talk about anything, anything at all I want you to give me a call, never mind what time it is. You write your number on this one in case I need to call you, Okay."

"Thanks again Reverend" Troy said as they exchanged cards. "I'll see you on Friday." He turned to walk away.

"Troy" the minister called him back, my wife used to be a professional photographer, and she's such a romantic, I think if I told her your story she would love to come and photograph the wedding. All you would need to pay is for the film and developing costs."

"That sounds great so long as she can keep a secret" Troy replied.

The minister gave a mischievous grin. "Even better I can ask her to do it and tell her that there is a very romantic story that I can't tell her until after the wedding. Curiosity will have her wanting to come for sure."

Troy laughed "I'll look forward to meeting her." He said.

Troy smiled as he walked back into the sunshine. He would talk about the mystery of the parental consent form with Gabriella, but for now he would keep the chapel a secret. He would meet her before the ceremony or if he could work out whom to trust he could have them bring her to the chapel.

Reaching the medical clinic he asked for an appointment with a doctor explaining that it wasn't any type of emergency, but that he just wanted to ask a quick question, and that he was prepared to wait all day if necessary. He took a seat in the waiting room and pulled out his now much altered list and began to update it.

_Rings – Done _

_Proposal – Done _

_Courthouse – forms filed. _

_Clothes – ? _

_Photos – Mrs Anderson _

_Wedding night – ? _

_Birth Control - can I consent, what do we do if I can't? _

_Chapel – Reverend Anderson _

_Witnesses – Chad? Taylor? Kelsi? Mrs Anderson? _

_Mrs Montez? _

_Mum & Dad? _

_Do I tell G about ? consent form _

For the next hour Troy sat thinking about the items he didn't have a plan for yet, he was optimistic that everything would continue to fall into place.

The doctor finally called his name and with a red face Troy explained to her his questions. It turned out to be the same doctor who remembered seeing Gabriella earlier in the week and she sympathised with their situation and was pleased to see the young man acting so responsibly.

"Well there are two things we could do" she said, "Firstly you are correct. After the wedding you will be Gabriella's next of kin and therefore you will be able to consent for your wife. The problem with that is that this is a family run clinic and the entire clinic will be closed for a family occasion out of town next weekend so I couldn't see you until Monday. The alternative is that I don't prescribe Gabriella anything but give it directly to you."

"You can do that?" Troy asked surprised.

"Well we don't normally but in the circumstances I could make an exception. Now tell me did you and Gabriella discuss the pros and cons of the various options?"

Troy grinned "Gabriella's a big one for pros and cons, we didn't discuss them but I'm sure she considered all the options, she said she wanted the three month shot."

"That's a little more problematic. I'll write you a prescription for it for you to fill, though you should take a girl with you to pick it up. I recommend you take it to a chemist where you don't know anyone because if they do check your ID they will assume you are a transsexual." She paused hiding her laughter while Troy recovered from his choking fit then continued. "You will have to make another appointment with me to receive the injection. You and Gabriella will both need to be there then."

"However, the shot needs to be taken in the first five days of Gabriella's menstrual cycle, do you know when that will be?"

"Umm no" Troy looked thoroughly confused.

The doctor realised Troy had not understood the question and explained in a friendly tone "Sorry Troy, I'm asking if you know when her last period started or when it's due?"

"Oh, I think it started yesterday, I overheard her complaining of cramps to one of her friends, but that might just have been an excuse to avoid talking about other stuff."

"Can you find out and then make the appointment for a day or two after that starts. Don't get the prescription filled until just before you come back because it needs to be refrigerated and I assume neither you nor Gabriella want to put it in your family's refrigerator."

"Okay Thanks doctor"

"Troy, you will have to use these until she had the shot. In fact it wouldn't be a bad idea to continue using these until you finish college just to be sure. The family planning clinic always has free condoms available in their waiting room if you feel too embarrassed to purchase them." The doctor handed Troy a box of condoms and the contact details and address of the family planning clinic. He pocketed them quickly and rushed out scarlet cheeked with embarrassment.

A/N: This is fiction, no real doctor would ever act so unprofessionally.

Thankyou to Kiara and Pumpkinking5 for all your support, it means more than you realise.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

November 30 Saturday

Gabriella's Day

Maria woke Gabriella at nine on Saturday morning insisting that she get up and come shopping. "We need to buy a wedding dress and accessories and some new lingerie for the honeymoon" she explained.

Gabriella protested that she wouldn't be needing any of those things

"Yes I know you don't plan on getting married but we still have to act like you are in case Alejandro is having us watched" Maria explained "So come on and let's get this over with."

Gabriella turned scarlet at this statement thinking about her plans to marry Troy. Luckily Maria thought her innocent daughter was blushing at the thought of purchasing lingerie her mother thought appropriate for a honeymoon.

"But what will I do with a fancy wedding dress and stuff?" Gabriella asked. "Wedding dresses are expensive, and we're going to need that money to go into hiding" she protested.

Maria smirked "Your Father has sent a credit card for us to use for wedding expenses, it will raise his suspicions if we don't buy a dress soon."

"Okay" she sighed, heading for the shower. She grabbed her phone and texted Troy to tell him that she was going shopping with her mum and that she was going to turn her phone off so her mother wouldn't find out they were still in touch. She also texted Taylor, Martha and Kelsi to explain that she would be busy with her mum and not able to have her phone on for most of the day

"It won't be too bad" her mother consoled her as they drove to the bridal shop "we may be able to sneak in some purchases that you will actually wear into the honeymoon outfits."

After trying on at least a dozen dresses – her mother insisted on doing it properly in case they were being watched – Gabriella found a dress she loved. It was nowhere near formal enough for the traditional wedding she was sure her father had planned, and it wasn't white which she was sure would drive him into a frenzy. It was a pale blue satin and chiffon tea length gown with a crystal beaded bodice, and it fit her like a glove. The colour was perfect for her skin tone, and it showed her figure to maximum advantage.

"This is the one" she said to her mother.

Maria had been against Gabriella even trying this dress on and began objecting as she turned from the rack of mother of the bride outfits she was looking at while Gabriella had been getting changed.

"Gabi, you know you have to have white, and it's too sh..." She looked at her daughter in shock. The dress was stunning, but more than that Gabriella was glowing. The soft blue suited her so much better than the white dresses had done.

"Yes," she said after a few moments to collect her thoughts "the dress is perfect for you. Your father wouldn't approve, but I guess that wouldn't matter and you could wear it for a ball or something later if he insists on getting a white wedding dress. It's a pity you won't be here to wear it for prom, though it really is a bit much for a prom dress."

Gabriella knew this dress was way too much for the simple courthouse ceremony she and Troy had planned but it didn't matter this was the dress she wanted to be married in even if it looked out of place.

Maria called the sales lady who had been busy with another customer who had been very demanding and difficult to please. "We think we've found the dress we want, can you help with accessories?" She asked politely.

The sales lady turned and came over to Maria "Sorry to leave you on your own" she said "I'm glad you've found a dress, let's see then does it need alteration?"

Gabriella stepped back out of the fitting room and the sales lady smiled "It fits perfectly" she exclaimed relieved (a dress with that much bead work on the bodice would take many hours work to alter and she knew they needed the dress by Christmas).

"Okay we need a veil and shoes to go with this."

"A veil?" the sales lady asked surprised "How big a veil were you thinking we don't really have a veil to suit. And certainly nothing in blue."

"It doesn't really matter" Gabriella explained grinning cheekily at the astonished Bridal shop owner "I don't want to wear a veil but Papa has insisted we get one, so as long as it shows a veil on the invoice anything will do. I don't intend to wear it. So you could just give us any one you want to be rid of. By the time he realises I don't actually have a veil to wear it will be too late to do anything about it."

"Gabriella" her mother playfully scolded, "you mustn't say things like that. I don't want to know how you plan to lose it. Not another word do you hear me."

The sales lady laughed "Well I do have a veil here that was damaged when the box broke during delivery. I was going to send it back but it was hand made by a friend of my mother's so I would be very glad if I don't have to return it."

"That sounds fine" said Gabriella "and it will save me the trouble of destroying it myself. I would feel so guilty wrecking something beautiful."

The sales lady laughed again "The dress does come with a small mini-veil if you're interested." She offered heading out the back and returning with three boxes. She opened the middle sized one and showed them a hat with a small veil that covered the top half of the face. Gabriella tried it on but didn't like it.

"No" she said handing it back to the sales lady "I think it looks too old for me and I'm not much of a hat person"

The sales lady agreed with her "I think this will suit you better" she said opening the smallest box to reveal a single blue silk orchid with crystal stamens that matched her dress.

"It's beautiful" Gabriella agreed "but don't you want me to buy the damaged veil?"

"Many of our veils come with separate head pieces" the sales lady explained. "Your father will not think it odd if you purchased both if you wished to."

Maria happily added the hairclip to their 'to buy' pile, glad that Gabriella was managing to enjoy this shopping trip, in spite of her earlier attitude. There wouldn't be many opportunities for them to spend time together before they were separated when Gabriella went into hiding. Maria understood her daughter's reluctance to marry someone she didn't remember, and supported her decision. She would miss Gabriella greatly but reminded herself that they would have been separated by half the country even if Gabriella did marry Eduardo, and she wouldn't have been able to see her often.

Maria pulled herself together, determined to enjoy the rest of the day without worrying.

"All right, we have a dress, headpiece and veil. Do you have shoes or a clutch bag to match, and what about matching lingerie or a wrap in case it's cold on the day?"

The sales lady nodded and returned to the back of the store.

"Mum" Gabriella protested.

"Shush dear, you don't know when you will actually wear this dress for so it is best to prepare for any type of occasion and weather." Her mother smiled and winked "Besides I'm enjoying spending your father's money."

"Just as well, seeing that this is the most expensive dress I've tried on." Gabriella replied dryly, "and in that case don't you think we need a really great complimentary outfit for the mother of the bride?"

"Of course, and also a going away outfit for the end of the reception" Maria added.

Gabriella laughed, I can see this is going to cost Papa a lot more than he's expecting. Is there a credit limit on the card?"

Maria joined in her daughter's laughter "I don't know but we're going to find out, I don't plan to stop spending until we've reached it."

There was indeed a matching shawl and a bolero jacket for the dress as well as underwear and shoes. The shoes weren't blue of course but white and covered in the same type of crystals as the bodice of the dress. Maria bought the lot, as well as a very classy suit for herself in a darker shade of blue.

They put the bags into the car and stopped for coffee before continuing. Rather than sit in the Cafe they got takeaway and sat outside in the sun. Gabriella wondered if she should bring up the idea of the birth control shot, (she would really rather not have to have Troy take her if she could avoid it) but then she realized that now her mother had accepted the idea of her going into hiding she wouldn't see the need for it.

They entered 'Victoria's Secret' where her mother enjoyed teasing her with extremely daring bra and thong sets and sheer nightgown and robe sets before letting her purchase some more modest but still sexy pyjamas and underwear. The bra and knickers sets her mother forced her to try were still far more lacy and feminine than what she was used to but on trying them on she could see that they still provided the same support and was almost as comfortable to wear as her old cotton underwear. She couldn't help but blush as she pictured Troy's reaction to her purchases. Would he think her pretty in them, or would he think that they were too much like something that the cheerleaders would wear and be disgusted at the idea of her wearing things like that.

She tried to tell her mother she wanted to stick to her old style cotton, but Maria refused to listen, and Gabriella couldn't voice her true concerns because as far as her mother knew, Troy would never see any of it.

They also bought a dozen pairs of shoes, some good quality costume jewellery, several handbags and a set of luggage, top quality sheets and towels, several pair of very expensive brand name jeans, new dresses and casual tops and slacks a little more mature in style than her current wardrobe but all very attractive, books and a new top of the line laptop. In all they spent 25,000 dollars before the credit card reached its limit.

In the end both women were more than glad when at last a transaction was declined. They had been shopping for more than eight hours and were tired and hungry. They treated themselves to their favourite Chinese takeaway, and leaving all the bags on Gabriella's bedroom floor, flaked on the couch watching 'Titanic'.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, wildcats2016 and iminlove13 for your reviews.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Gabriella roused herself as the movie ended and leaving her mother asleep on the couch, she headed upstairs to find Troy asleep on the floor in the closet.

"What are you doing on the floor?" she asked laughing as she shook him awake.

"I was so tired I knew I'd fall asleep as soon as I sat down, so I thought I better make sure I was out of sight of the door in case your Mum came in" He explained.

"Troy you should have stayed home and gone to bed" she scolded.

"I know but I haven't seen you all day and your phone is still turned off" replied Troy yawning.

"Oh Sorry!" Gabriella hugged him as he stood up.

"Why'd you turn it off anyway? You could have just told me not to call. I knew you were spending the day with your Mum." He asked slightly hurt that she hadn't trusted him.

"I know Troy but I didn't want to talk to Taylor or the others in front of Mum either, they don't know I'm supposed to be staying away from you and I worried they would ask about why I was avoiding you last night and I wouldn't be able to explain without mum hearing me." She turned her phone back on and groaned "I was right there must be three dozen messages here from Taylor, Martha, and Kelsi alone, not to mention Chad and Ryan."

"So how did the shopping with your mum go?" Troy asked quietly.

"We actually had a great day. It was good to spend time with her before I make her mad at me again, but I felt guilty for not telling her about the wedding? I feel like I've finally forgiven her for trying to stop me from seeing you." Gabriella said sadly.

"Was she still trying to talk you into marrying Eduardo?" Troy asked concerned.

"No we barely talked about it at all. She said she respected my decision, she just wanted to make sure I had thought it through." Gabriella reassured him.

Troy looked confused "But you still bought a wedding dress. What's up with that?" he asked pointing to the Box with the Bridal shop logo.

"Papa sent Mum money on a credit card to pay for a dress and stuff. He was expecting to be sent the receipts. Mum said he would become suspicious if he didn't get receipts from a bridal shop soon. So we bought a dress and sent all the receipts to him" Gabriella explained. "She was worried that even if we aren't already being watched he would become suspicious if he didn't get them soon.

"Are you sure she's not wanting you to change your mind? I mean my cousin Joanne loved trying on wedding dresses, maybe she was trying to get you excited about the wedding" Troy asked anxiously, remembering how his cousin seemed almost more excited about the dress than the ceremony.

Gabriella laughed at that, "Well it worked, I am excited about our wedding. I found the perfect dress, though I expect it will look a little odd in the registry office." She blushed slightly.

"I'm sorry you can't have the type of wedding you dreamed of" Troy said quietly.

"Enough of that Troy David Alexander Bolton! I'm marrying you, which is exactly what I've dreamed of for the past eight months."

"I meant a proper church wedding or maybe at our special spot in the park in the summer in front of all our family and friends, somewhere a fancy wedding dress won't look out of place with bridesmaids and a reception and all that stuff."

"It doesn't matter Troy, I'm sure the wedding my Dad has planned would have had all that hype, a long white dress and a veil I hated, a big church ceremony full of platitudes nobody means, 500 guests I don't even know, and a groom I don't remember let alone love. The whole thing would be less real than the Twinkle-town Musicale. Our wedding will have a bride and groom who are in love and vows we really mean. There's no comparison. Our marriage will be real, I don't need all the trimmings." She said earnestly.

Troy smiled. Her dress wouldn't look as out of place as she thought. He had a surprise for her. He also had that question to ask. He didn't know how to bring it up.

"It still seems to me that your mum is still getting ready for the wedding though even if she's just going through the motions. I mean you would have tried a heap of dresses on to find the perfect one right? If all you needed was a receipt couldn't you have just bought the first one you tried and saved time?" Troy asked not wanting to upset her.

Gabriella thought about what Troy had said. "No I'm sure you're wrong, she has accepted that I'm not going to marry Eduardo, today was all about appearances. Mum still seems worried that Papa might have someone watching to make sure we don't run away again, so maybe she wanted to make it look authentic in case papa is having us watched. Besides there is no way she would have let me buy the dress we bought today to wear for the wedding with Eduardo. I don't want to describe it to you but Papa would have thought it was completely inappropriate. And the veil we bought doesn't go with the dress at all; I explained to the shop owner that I didn't want a veil and that my father was insisting and so she sold us one that had been torn so badly that it can't be fixed. Besides we weren't out all day just shopping for wedding stuff, Mum was determined to max out the credit card Papa sent since he owes her years worth of maintenance payments. I got a whole new wardrobe and new sheets and quilt covers, heaps of books and movies and a new laptop, with printer and scanner and an iphone (though she won't give it to me until I leave and I had to promise not to program any numbers from people here into it). She tried to get a cash advance but the card was set up not to allow that so we just kept spending money until it finally declined a purchase."

Troy laughed "I guess that explains all that" he said pointing to the huge pile of bags in the corner. He hugged her tight for a bit then nervously changed the subject.

"I went to the doctor this morning" he began.

"What did they say?" Gabriella asked.

"I can give consent for you after the wedding. But she said this shot thing has to be given in the first five days of starting your period and I should ask you when that will be." Troy was slightly embarrassed asking Gabriella this. It was one of very few things they had never talked to each other about.

"Oh No! That was yesterday it will be too late after the wedding. We'll have to wait almost a month." Gabriella was unhappy at having to take the risk. She was fairly sure Troy wouldn't object to using a condom, but having the shot as well was far more effective.

"No we won't, I saw the same doctor you saw the other day and she's glad we're being so responsible about this and wants to help us. I said I thought it could have been yesterday because I knew you'd been in pain. She said she would prescribe it for me directly, and if I make the appointment in my name you can just come with me, and she'll give it to you. We have to pick it up from the pharmacy first. I made us an appointment for Monday during free period just in case."

"Okay" Gabriella replied. It would be less embarrassing than she had feared Troy already had the prescription and she hoped that the doctor would give it to her without too much discussion. She and Troy had already discussed what type of birth control she wanted so it couldn't be too bad. She realized that Troy had probably had a very embarrassing visit especially since it seemed he had seen a lady doctor, and she kissed his cheek in gratitude. "Thank you for doing this for me Troy."

"I didn't do it just for you. I want us to be as safe as possible too. And it will be easier to relax and enjoy it if we don't need to worry about getting pregnant." Troy mumbled embarrassed.

They cuddled silently for a while until Gabriella noticed Troy starting to fall asleep. She shook him gently.

"You can't stay tonight Troy, Mum is still asleep on the couch and she might look in on her way to bed later" she explained to her sleepy fiancé.

"I'll say goodnight then" he said leaning in and kissing her goodnight.

"Night Troy, are you going to be alright climbing down, you're still half asleep?"

"Sure! Lots of practice lately you know" He winked and kissed her again before letting himself out and locking the door behind him.

"I'd ask you to ring and let me know you got home safely but Mom's been insisting I leave my phone downstairs lately" Gabriella said with concern.

"She's that determined to separate us that she's preventing you from talking to your friends?" Troy asked shocked.

"I don't know" Gabriella said dejectedly, "maybe she thinks it would be better to distance myself from them before I leave so it's not such a shock to them when I disappear and I won't be as tempted to contact them from Europe"

Troy shrugged not sure if he agreed with that thought or not. "Don't worry I'll be safe. I can ring your other phone" Troy reminded her.

Gabriella smiled and fished Troy's old phone out of her bag and slipped it under her pillow. "I forgot about that" she admitted.

Troy grinned "I almost did too" he agreed. "Talk to you later." He kissed her again and let himself out locking the balcony door behind him.

A/N: Thanks to Kiara, Wildcats2016, caggyxx12, and allbecauseoflove for your support.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

December 1st Sunday

Troy slept late the next morning, exhausted from all the sneaking around during the night lately. His Mum woke him just in time to shower before his grandparents arrived for lunch. Unable to wait until lunch he entered the kitchen to grab a snack.

"Troy! You'll ruin your appetite." His mother scolded teasing. She knew that wasn't likely.

"Hey now I'm a growing boy." He teased back. "Besides I'll always be able to make room for your cooking." He smiled engagingly.

"Flatterer. Is Gabriella coming to lunch?" Lucille asked expecting her son to agree.

"I forgot to ask her?" Troy hung his head. It was the truth, he had forgotten his Grandparent's were coming, but he also knew that even if he had asked Gabriella would not have been allowed to come but he knew that he couldn't tell his mother the truth.

"Why don't you give her a call now then? Dinner won't be for another half hour. Invite Maria too if she's free" his mother instructed smiling.

"Okay" Troy left the house to make the call in private. He wished Gabriella could come to lunch. Not only because he missed her but also because his mother did too and he was worried that if he didn't bring Gabriella home to visit soon his mother was likely to ring Maria and invite them both to dinner. That would be a total disaster.

Lucille and Maria had always got along well and there was always a risk that they would run into one another and the story would come out. Awakening Lucille's suspicions like that could cause a lot of problems. Maria might be naive enough to believe that she had managed to separate Troy and Gabriella, but Troy knew that Lucille knew him better than that. She would know that if Troy and Gabriella were about to be separated then Troy would have taken much longer than a week to get over his depression. The fact that he seemed to have recovered so quickly could mean only one thing, that Troy and Gabriella had a plan to change things. Unlike Maria, Lucille was well aware of the strength of their children's feelings for each other and the depth of commitment they had. To be honest Maria should have known this too but was in denial.

"Hey Wildcat." Gabriella answered obviously not with her mum.

"Hey Baby, what are you doing?" Troy asked cheerfully.

Gabriella sighed, "Homework. You?"

"My Grandparents are coming for dinner. Apparently I was told last week and I totally forgot. Officially I'm calling on behalf of Mum to invite you and your mother to lunch" Troy explained.

"I wish I could come I miss your Mum" Gabriella said sadly. She and Lucille had always gotten along extremely well and it would be nice to spend time with adults that supported their relationship.

"Can't you tell your Mom that you're going to the library or to study with Taylor or Martha or something?" Troy suggested.

"She's not here at the moment so I guess I could leave her a note." Gabriella sounded unsure if this was a good idea.

"Please come Baby I miss you" Troy begged. "And mum will get suspicious if you don't come and visit soon."

"You saw me last night Troy" Gabriella protested.

"I know Baby, but I just want to hang out. We haven't done that lately everything has been about planning and secrets. I miss just being with you without all the drama. Doing something normal for a change."

Gabriella gave in "Yeah. Me too Wildcat. I'll see you soon."

"Do you want me to come get you?" Troy offered.

She was tempted. "It's too big a risk Troy. I don't know when Mum will be home."

"I could meet you in front of the play park around the corner from your house."

"You're so crazy Wildcat, I'll see you there in a few minutes" Gabriella said laughing.

Troy stuck his head into the kitchen to tell his mother that Gabriella but not Maria was coming to lunch and that he was on his way to pick up Gabriella if she needed any last minute things from the store.

"Hey wildcat" Gabriella smiled as she climbed into his truck and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Is that any way to greet your fiancé?" Troy grabbed her and kissed her thoroughly as Gabriella had known he would. She enjoyed kissing Troy but preferred not to be the one initiating it.

"Don't get too carried away." She teased "Your mum is waiting for us."

Troy laughed and started his truck and headed towards home.

"So what are we going to tell your parents?" Gabriella asked "I'm sure they've probably noticed something's up lately."

"I hadn't thought about it. I don't think we can tell the truth so I guess we just say it's sorted out and hope they will let us change the subject."

Gabriella thought Troy was being a bit too optimistic but as she didn't have any better ideas she decided that hoping for the best was all they could do with the time they had available.

Lucille came out and dragged Gabriella into the kitchen and giving her a quick hug put her to work stirring the gravy while she asked Troy to set the table. "We've not seen you around here lately Gabriella, I hope everything is okay with you and Troy?" she asked.

Gabriella smiled "Yes I've been really busy with school and stuff and my Aunt Ginevra came to visit last weekend."

"I'm glad that was all it was" said Lucille doubtfully, "Troy seemed quite down and I thought you may have had a fight."

"No we haven't fought since the summer," replied Gabriella then lowered her voice conspiratorially "I think we are both almost afraid to fight again it was so awful last time" she admitted.

"You mustn't let fear of fighting prevent you from discussing things when you annoy one another though it's not healthy never to disagree or to bottle up your feelings like that." Lucille said worried. If Troy hadn't confided in Gabriella either then she should be really concerned about what was going on with him. As she thought back over the conversation though she realised that Gabriella hadn't actually denied knowing what had upset her son just that his depression hadn't been caused by a fight with his girlfriend. She was about to question Gabriella further when Jack entered the kitchen.

"Smells great" he greeted his wife. "Hey Miss Montez, is Maria here too?" Jack rarely used Gabriella's first name though he always seemed pleased to have her around, Gabriella wasn't sure he really liked her.

"No she'd already left for the day when Troy rang to invite us" Gabriella made excuses for her mother's absence.

"Troy shouldn't have left it until the last minute like that." Jack commented "We haven't had Maria here in ages."

"Mum's been really busy with work lately, even I haven't seen as much of her as usual." Gabriella replied.

Jack frowned a little at that, Troy had been out more than usual too, were they taking advantage of Maria's extra working hours in a way they shouldn't.

Just then came the sounds of Troy greeting his Grandparents and Jack went to help his son with the bags. The senior Bolton's lived several hours away and would be staying at least one night, possibly longer.

Lucille also greeted them quickly before beginning to dish up.

The meal progressed pleasantly with Troy's grandfather quizzing him on the upcoming Basketball season and promising to come down and see a game in a few weeks time if he couldn't convince his wife to stay until Wednesday to see this week's game. He was just as big a basketball fan as his son and grandson so after discussing the wildcat's prospects this season conversation moved on to the NBL.

The females at the table just rolled their eyes and after several attempts to change the topic were ignored they began their own conversation Mrs Bolton senior talking about the various committees she was involved with and asking Lucille about her work as a real estate agent and Gabriella about school.

Towards the end of the meal Lucille turned to Gabriella and said "I was surprised yesterday to see your house on the list of available rentals for January." She immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say as both the young people's faces fell and tension filled the air.

"Are you moving Gabriella?" asked Troy's Grandfather oblivious to the tension in the room. "Where are you moving to?"

"I'm not sure," Gabriella spoke softly "Mum's been asked to oversee some new project in Mexico for two or three months. But she doesn't know where she'll be transferred to after that."

"Mexico" said Jack. "How will that affect your schooling? Not to mention having to move twice during Senior year."

"Well, the place she'll be going is quite small, I believe they do have a school of sorts but what they teach there is very limited and of course it's all taught in Spanish. I probably speak enough Spanish to pass but I don't think I could maintain my grade point average in a non-English speaking class so if I go with her I would probably graduate at the end of this semester and try to take some college classes by correspondence."

"You have enough credits to graduate?" Lucille asked surprised. She knew that Gabriella was very smart but hadn't realised she could finish school early. This was difficult enough to even keep up with her year level with as much changing schools Gabriella had been forced to do much less get ahead."

"Yes sometimes when I started a new school in the middle of a semester they wouldn't offer some of the subjects I was taking at my old school so I would finish those subjects by correspondence, but the new school wouldn't take those into account and still demand that I take a full course load. That happened a couple of times and I've also taken Spanish and Italian by correspondence whenever it wasn't offered at the school I was at so I actually had enough credits to Graduate at the end of last year but not enough to get a scholarship into Stanford without an extra semester" Gabriella explained. "I wasn't going to graduate early because I wanted to stay at school with my friends but if I have to leave anyway it will probably be easier to graduate than transfer."

"So you're taking Italian now then?" Troy asked surprised. He wasn't the only one, Gabriella had one of the heaviest course loads of all the senior class, to hear she was also taking a subject by correspondence shocked them. "And why do you have so many classes if you already have enough credits to graduate?" he added puzzled.

"Yes it's quite easy Mom's family are Italian so I grew up speaking Italian and Spanish as well as English. And I just signed up for the classes I was interested in." And some just because Troy was in them but she wasn't going to admit that to his parents.

Troy's Grandmother was quite observant, and noticed what the other adults had missed in their surprise about Gabriella graduating. The girl had not actually said that she was moving to Mexico; only that her mother was and that she wouldn't attend school there. "Where will you go if you don't go with your mother?" she asked concerned.

Gabriella shrugged "I'm not sure yet, Aunt Ginevra has offered to have me; she lives in Minneapolis Minnesota, or perhaps to stay with my father in Los Angeles or a family friend in Detroit" she said, uncomfortable about lying to the Boltons.

"I've never heard you talk of your father, are you close?" Lucille asked concerned by the apathy Gabriella seemed to be expressing.

"No I haven't seen him or heard from him since I was seven or eight, but he contacted Mum recently and he wants us to come to Campechuela in Cuba and spend Christmas with him and his parents and all the extended family" Gabriella said trying to hide how much she hated that idea.

"You must be exited." Said Troy's grandfather rejoining the conversation.

Gabriella flinched. "Not really, I was four last time we were there so I barely remember any of them."

Lucille was growing even more concerned, there was something seriously wrong. Glancing at Troy she saw him sitting with his head bowed, hiding his face, but from what she could see all his muscles were tense, as if he was holding back violent emotions. She expected him to be upset that Gabriella was leaving but he seemed to be more furious than sad. She wondered if this was the first he'd heard of Gabriella leaving or what else might be going on with the two of them and vowed to get to the bottom of this later but in front of everybody wasn't the time so she made an effort to change the subject and draw attention away from the two teens.

"We are planning on going to spend next weekend with Hannah my college roommate in Wichita. She's recently had a baby girl, and I am so looking forward to buying her something pink and frilly." She announced frowning slightly when Troy didn't make his usual teasing response to her allusion to wanting a baby girl.

In truth, Troy had not even noticed the baby girl comment, his attention had been caught by the announcement that his parents were going away for the weekend. It was almost like an answer to a prayer. He wouldn't have to sneak around on their wedding night, or to spend money on a hotel room. He had been having nightmares of spending the night in the cheap motel near their house and having to leave Gabriella and come home in time for curfew and sneak out again once has parents were asleep and then leave Gabriella again to be home when they woke up. He wondered if Gabriella would mind spending their wedding night in his bedroom, it wasn't at all romantic but he thought that maybe the familiar room might make things less awkward than if they were somewhere strange. And if he knew they'd have the whole house to themselves for the night then maybe he could set it up to be a bit more special than normal.

Jack noticed Troy's distraction, but attributed it to the thought of Gabriella leaving. Something didn't ring true though. He had thought Troy would have been devastated by Gabriella's plans to move, and a week ago he had certainly been upset enough. But he had gotten over it, and though he still seemed more serious and distracted than normal and slightly sad at times, he had played this week like he was on top of the world. The effect of his emotions on his game was Troy's biggest weakness when it came to Basketball and Jack was well aware of this. So for Troy to play the way he had this week meant that he wasn't as upset about Gabriella leaving as he was making out to be. Was it possible that the relationship between Troy and Gabriella was coming to a natural end? Troy was a nice guy, in the past he'd had trouble letting the cheerleaders know he wasn't interested in dating any of them. He would find it difficult to break up with the girl. Maybe if he knew she was leaving soon anyway Troy would choose to just wait it out rather than causing a big emotional scene by breaking up. If so Jack couldn't blame him; he wasn't much for high emotional scenes either. Having satisfied himself that Gabriella moving would not have a huge effect on his son, especially with the game against West High coming up this week, Jack turned his attention back to his dinner.

A/N: Thankyou to iminlove13, pumpkinking5, kiara and widcats2013 for your support.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Gabriella and Troy excused themselves as soon as possible and knowing that his Grandparents wouldn't approve of Gabriella being in his bedroom, they headed outside. Wanting more privacy than the outdoor area provided Troy pulled Gabriella down to the bottom of the garden and helped her up the ladder up to his tree house. The wind was quite cold so rather than sit out on the balcony Troy sat on the floor inside and pulled her down onto his lap wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"I hated lying like that Troy" Gabriella said quietly.

"I know Baby" he murmured rubbing her back.

"And what am I going to do next semester. I totally forgot Mum's moving away, whether I go into hiding or not. I'll have to leave anyway." She began to cry.

"No Baby. No. Gabriella you can stay with me here, you don't have to go" Troy attempted to calm her down and reassure her.

"You really think your parents would allow it?" she asked dubiously.

"Why not?" Troy asked obstinately.

"They never let me stay over, and now you think they'll let me move in with you." She said incredulously.

"It'll be different then, you won't just be my girlfriend you'll be my wife they won't have a choice. And besides..." he paused blushing wondering whether he should continue.

"Besides?" Gabriella questioned wanting to hear the real reason.

Troy decided to go for it, they needed to be able to at least talk about it for God's sake. "Besides the reason they don't let you stay now is because they don't want us to have sex yet, or they don't want to know about it if we are or us to think they approve. By then they'll know we already have done it so they'll have less reason not to let you stay."

Gabriella blushed at the mention of sex then started almost hyperventilating at the thought of Troy's parents knowing they were having sex.

"Calm down Gabi, Come on breathe baby please.."

Gabriella slowly calmed down and they sat there in silence, just enjoying being in each other's embrace.

"It will be okay Gabi I promise, they'll let you stay. Taylor's parent might offer to have you stay with them or we could find our own place" Troy reassured her.

"Are you serious, you'd do that for me and how would we afford it."Gabriella said surprised by the idea.

"I don't know if we could afford it but I'll bet just the thought of me moving out will be enough to make Mum convince Dad to let you stay." Troy said grinning.

Gabriella frowned "But I don't want them to be angry that I'm staying with you" she protested.

"I doubt it will come to that, but if it does we'll find a solution I promise"

"Promise is a really big word Troy"

"I mean it Gabi, it's you and me together from here on. Whatever happens we'll face it and decide what to do but I won't leave you" Troy said earnestly.

They heard Troy's parents come outside talking loudly and heatedly and heading for the bottom of the garden. Wondering if they were looking for him and Gabriella he prepared to make his presence known when he realised they weren't calling for him but rather arguing about him. Troy shifted awkwardly, and whispered to Gabriella "You know normally I'd let them know we're here but maybe with all the stuff going on we should wait and find out what they know?"

"You're right Troy" Gabriella replied holding him tightly worried about what the Boltons might say. She knew Troy had been hurt in the past by things he'd overheard when his parents were fighting.

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't offer to let Gabriella stay in the spare room until Maria gets back from Mexico. She obviously doesn't want to go. But we need to check with Troy to see if he really wants her to stay" Jack said firmly.

"Why on earth would you think he wouldn't want her to stay with us rather than leaving school? He loves her of course he will want her to stay" Lucille asked.

"Does he?" Jack asked as if he didn't believe it.

"Jack Bolton, I don't believe you! Stop trying to deny it. Troy loves Gabriella!" Lucille yelled.

"Really? You're sure about that? From the way he's been acting this week, you're sure he still loves her?" Jack asked again wanting his wife to really think about how Troy had been acting lately.

"Yes of course I'm sure. What's this all about?" she huffed.

Troy held his breath waiting for the answer. What had he done to make his dad think he didn't love Gabriella? Was she doubting him too? He couldn't bring himself to pull away and look in her eyes frightened at what he might see.

"If he truly loved her he'd be more upset. He didn't react much at all to the news that Maria was moving" Jack tried to explain his reasoning.

"He certainly did react, he was clenching his cutlery so hard I was worried he'd break them. He has probably known for a while now." Lucille attempted to brush off her husband's concerns.

"Yeah. I'd say he found out about two weeks ago."

"Well he was depressed enough then that's for sure" she agreed.

"But he got over it awful quick don't you think? He played on Friday like he hadn't got a care in the world" jack commented smiling at the memory of how well his son had played, the championship was all but in the bag.

"What are you trying to say?" Lucille asked beginning to lose her temper when Basketball was mentioned. There was more to Troy's emotional well being than how well he played Basketball.

"I'm trying to tell you that on Friday Troy was in no way depressed or upset, no matter what he's pretending to be he's not all that distressed about Gabriella leaving." Jack explained hoping his wife would accept that.

"Okay fine we'll talk to Troy first before we make Gabriella and Maria an offer to have Gabriella stay with us. But I'll be surprised if Troy doesn't come to us himself and ask us to invite Gabriella to stay" Lucille ended the argument by walking off. Thinking it over she realised that maybe Jack had a point. She would have expected Troy to have been more upset. She totally rejected the idea that he no longer loved Gabriella so he should have been a lot more depressed. Added to his unexplained anger over lunch she didn't know what to think. She resolved to corner her son and force some answers out of him if need be.

Troy turned to Gabriella, "You do know that the only reason I'm not completely destroyed about the thought of you leaving town is because I know you aren't actually going to go?" he whispered.

Gabriella laughed quietly "Yes Troy I know. You were depressed enough before we came up with a plan to stop it. And we wouldn't be getting married if I doubted that you will always love me."

Troy began kissing her passionately and she responded eagerly. Unfortunately from her position on his lap she quickly became aware of his arousal, and started to back off. Troy almost groaned,

After several moments composing himself he said quietly "you don't have to be afraid of me Gabi. I won't do anything you don't want me to. It just happens I didn't mean to scare you with it?"

"I know Troy, I feel safe with you. It just surprised me. I –I wasn't expecting it."

Troy laughed at that. "You were expecting to be able to kiss me like that and not cause a reaction?" His laughter stopped suddenly and a worried look entered his eyes. "Please Gabriella don't tell me that kissing me like that doesn't turn you on too?" He held his breath waiting for her answer. He had always assumed she was hesitant to move their relationship because of shyness and lack of experience and because what they had was too special to take risks with, or even a belief that she should wait for her wedding night. Troy had always been content to respect her wishes whatever her reason was. But he suddenly felt very insecure, what if she didn't want him like that. It would be a huge blow both to his ego and his heart. And it would make their marriage very difficult for Troy to have her constantly close but sexually distant.

Gabriella didn't answer, too shy to tell him how very aroused she had been. She climbed off his lap and sat down beside him.

Troy felt chilled; he didn't know what to do. He knew that Gabriella thought she loved him but if his kisses didn't arouse her then maybe getting married wasn't such a good idea. He couldn't back out now though Gabriella was depending on him. Suddenly their future didn't seem so bright after all. His eyes filled with tears and he turned away and surreptitiously wiped his face hoping Gabriella hadn't noticed.

"We better get you home before your mum gets home." He said standing and turning to climb down the ladder.

Gabriella noticed Troy's change in mood but didn't understand the cause. She stood too and caught Troy's hand preventing him from leaving. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

Troy just shrugged "We need to get going" he said.

"Talk to me Troy" she begged,

"What's to talk about" he said still not facing her "if you weren't aroused then you weren't, there's nothing you can do about it. I guess I'm a little disappointed but I'll deal with it. You do really need to get home." He tried to cover up his heartache.

A/N: thankyou to Kiara, wildcats2013 and Pumpkinking5 for your support.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

A/N: This chapter is mostly smut so if that's not your thing please feel free not to read it. Gabriella convinces Troy that she does desire him they fool around a bit but don't have actual sex, nothing else happens.

Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, iminlove13, and YouDontEvenCare for your support.

"Troy look at me" she walked around in front of him and cupped his face with her hands. Feeling the dampness on his cheeks and seeing the broken look in his eyes, she stilled realising what a huge mistake she had made in allowing her embarrassment to prevent her from being fully honest with Troy. She thought about how to admit her feelings, then realised that the hurt and doubts she had inadvertently caused couldn't be fixed by words alone. He wouldn't believe her assurances that she had indeed been turned on when her behaviour so clearly indicated otherwise.

So taking a deep breath and she gathered her courage and did the only thing she could think of that might help. She pulled him back down to the floor and straddled his lap. Blushing madly at what she was about to do she whispered "I was aroused Troy, I just didn't know how to tell you... I was embarrassed" her voice trailed off still not knowing what to say. She could see that he wanted to believe her but still had doubts so nervously taking his hand, she ran it up her thigh to her soaking panties she let him feel the proof of her arousal. "Here, see for yourself just what your kisses do to me."

Troy froze afraid to move. His higher brain function completely shut down. A small part of him recognised how uncomfortable Gabriella was with both her blatantly honest words and with the position in which she now found herself. His pants were becoming unbearably tight and he wanted more than anything to bury himself in the hot wetness under his fingers. He breathed deeply closing his eyes and reciting lines from the Twinkletown Musicale in his head to try to re-establish control of his body.

Troy didn't want to frighten her, but also knew he didn't want to let this opportunity pass. They would be married in less than a week if Gabriella didn't become more comfortable with being touched and being aroused then their wedding night would be a total disaster. He knew he should do the honourable thing and move his hand away from her core, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Gabriella watched the expressions chase each other over Troy's face shock, then pure lust, then determination, then softening into love as he opened his eyes and gave her a small strained smile.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly, prepared to move his hand if she asked him to.

Gabriella was very aware of Troy's hand lying motionless, touching her between her legs, his fingers separated from her most private place only by the thin soaked cotton of her panties. She didn't quite know how she felt. She felt safe with Troy as always knowing that if he would never push beyond the limits she set. She was the one to breech those limits in placing his hand there and she knew he was waiting for permission for whatever he wanted to do next.

"I think so." She whispered, giving him a small smile, blushing fiercely. She was still holding his wrist loosely neither keeping his hand in place nor pulling it away.

Troy took his free hand and cupped her face kissing her lightly before trailing kisses over her face and sucking her earlobe into his mouth. They'd done this a couple of times before and it always seemed to make her squirm, though she seemed to enjoy it. He immediately felt an increased heat and wetness as her squirming pressed her core against his fingers.

Gabriella tensed slightly. No one had ever touched her there before - she hadn't even experimented on her own.

Troy whispered into her ear "It's okay Baby You're safe, It's just my hand I won't do anything else. I love you Gabi, please let me make you feel good."

After a moment Gabriella nodded, she was also aware of the rapidly approaching wedding night, and all her usual reasons to wait now seemed unnecessary. She trusted Troy to keep to the limit he'd just set himself and she'd never been so aroused in her life, the throbbing and aching between her legs seemed to call for his touch and she didn't think she could ask him to stop now even if she wanted to. She pressed herself into his hand as he began to explore her folds through the soaked cotton. He kissed her tenderly and felt Gabriella moan into his mouth as he moved his fingers softly against her.

When he hit a certain spot Gabriella gasped out loud. Troy continued to play with the little nub he had found and was rewarded by moans and gasps from Gabriella

Troy's free hand left her cheek and caressed its way down her neck before cupping her breast and kneading it softly, his thumb rubbing the hard nipple through her t-shirt.

Troy paused before moving his hand to the edge of her panties, "Can I?" he asked quietly.

Gabriella was lost in a world of new sensations and it took her a few moments realize Troy had asked a question and was waiting for an answer, and she nodded shyly not quite sure what she was agreeing to.

A moment later her body tensed and shuddered when he slipped a finger past her panties and finally touched her intimately. The finger slid easily through her wet folds and Gabriella couldn't hold back another moan at the sensation of his finger against her sensitive skin. He moved his thumb in small circles on her clit, pressing down a little harder, watching her face trying to tell what touches she preferred. The look of surprise and lust in her eyes made his heart speed up and his cock twitch. He'd never been so painfully hard in his life, but he ignored the best he could, this time was all for Gabriella.

Troy's hand moved lower and one finger entered Gabriella slowly, giving her time to adjust. "Fuck" he whispered, astonished at the heat and moisture that was gripping his finger.

Gabriella breathed out roughly, her eyes closing intermittently as she focused on what he was doing to her.

He reached further inside her with his finger, exploring the tightness and heat of her body careful not to break her hymen. He stroked the top of her walls with his fingertip, stunned at how soft and silky they were, and she panted softly and closed her eyes.

"Does that feel good?" he asked hopefully.

"God, yes," she whispered, and Troy grinned. He absolutely loved seeing Gabriella lose her composure.

She gasped as he eased two fingers inside her, her body immediately clamping around the digits. "Oh," she breathed out roughly, thrusting her pelvis into his hand. He watched her face as he twisted his fingers within her. The involuntary gasps, the furrowed brow, the soft sheen of sweat on her face and neck…he might think she was in pain if not for the subtle bucking of her hips as he penetrated her with his fingers.

She panted softly and thrust against his hand as he continued stroking her with his fingers, and Troy began rubbing his thumb back and forth across her clit more firmly enjoying her reaction.

"Kiss me, Troy," Gabriella suddenly moaned.

He leaned in obediently and recaptured her mouth with his, and she sought out his tongue in desperation. The two wrestled with their tongues in a frenzy of lust, each overcome by what they were doing.

Troy continued teasing her clit and plunging his fingers into her as they kissed, and a short while later Gabriella began panting into his mouth in short bursts. Although she was a virgin, she wasn't completely ignorant of the mechanics of sex - having of course read extensively - and as the most delicious sensations skated through her body and pressure began to build in the pit of her stomach, she realised that she was moments away from experiencing her very first orgasm.

"Oh yes, Troy! Please Don't stop." Gabriella moaned, and he felt her walls contract even more tightly around his fingers.

He watched, enthralled, as she grimaced and panted in time with the contractions of her vagina. He continued pleasuring her as she came.

Gabriella collapsed against his chest her eyes remaining closed as her breathing returned to normal, and Troy gingerly extracted his fingers from her. He licked them surreptitiously since she wasn't looking, and he knew it was a scent and taste he would remember forever, it was unlike anything he had ever encountered. Musky, damp, intoxicating. It made him want to bury his face between her legs and inhale deeply before tasting her directly. Pushing that thought aside for another time he wrapped his arms around her in a loose hug, and waited for her to recover.

Troy had accomplished many things in his young life. But none of these had given him as much pride as the knowledge that he had given Gabriella her first orgasm.

"I take it you enjoyed that?" he smirked cheekily, and she flushed in embarrassment but still beamed him a bright smile.

"I think you know I did" she agreed.

"Thank you for letting me" he smiled, and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead.

"Mmmm, you're welcome," she smiled a little sleepily.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Troy leaned in and planted a quick and tender kiss on her lips. "I'm really enjoying having you in my lap but we really do need to get you home before your mom gets too suspicious" he said reluctantly.

They pulled themselves together and got ready to descend back to the real world.

"We need to get to the bathroom and clean up a little before we run into any parents." Troy said as he helped Gabriella down the ladder as her legs were still a little shaky.

Gabriella turned scarlet and mumbled an answer Troy didn't understand. Letting the matter drop he threaded his fingers through hers and led her into the house to the downstairs bathroom. He washed his hands and left to give her some privacy.

Waiting outside the door he heard a quiet sob and rushed back in. "Baby what's wrong?" He asked taking her into his arms.

"I smell bad?" she whimpered.

"No Baby you smell great, truly I love it, I just thought you would want to clean up a bit because I can still smell your orgasm. It smells wonderful but I would rather my parents not know what we'd been up to. It smells too good actually I don't know if I could concentrate enough to drive with that smell in my head." He took her hand and brushed it quickly against his straining zipper to show her what he meant.

He sat her on the bench then fetched a soft wash cloth from the cupboard and ran it under the warm water before handing it to her. Gabriella made no move to take the cloth so Troy asked quietly "Do you want me to go out while you wash up there?" She still made no response.

"Gabriella" Troy said firmly "I'd like nothing better than to peel your panties off and wash you myself but I think I've used up all my self control for the day, so unless you want our first time to be here now in the bathroom without protection you need to clean yourself up. I don't trust myself to do it. I'll go get you a clean pair of boxers to wear."

Gabriella watched him leave mortified, she quickly jumped up and locked the door before removing her panties and washing herself thoroughly. Troy knocked softly and when she opened the door passed in the promised boxers and a small plastic bag.

She finished in the bathroom, and said goodbye to the Bolton's quickly, before leaving the house with Troy. The bag with her panties tucked into his pocket.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"So, do you think I should ask Mum and Dad if you can stay with us for the rest of the year tonight seeing they seem to be expecting me to?" Troy asked as she climbed into his truck for a ride home.

Gabriella frowned in thought "I don't know Troy" she said doubtfully.

Troy sighed in agreement, "I don't either; I can't tell what would be best" he said thoughtfully.

"Do you have a pen and paper?" Gabriella asked suddenly.

Troy looked up in surprise at this sudden change of subject. "Not out here, but I'll get some if it's important. Why?"

"So we can make a pro and con list. I always try to make important decisions that way. Then we can try to predict some of the effects that asking your Mum and Dad today could cause and maybe we could counteract some of them before they became problems. Then we can try to see whether it would be better to ask now or to wait until after the wedding" Gabriella explained.

Troy ran back inside for the requested notepad and pen. Handing it to Gabriella he watched as she started to make three lists.

_Asking J & L today:_

_Lucille expects Troy to ask today._

_Jack and Lucille might be going to bring up the question anyway. Then either Troy tells them he wants me to stay or has to lie._

_If they ask and he tells them he doesn't want me to stay then they are more likely to refuse later._

_Might get things settled. One less thing to worry about._

_Not Asking J & L today:_

_If we ask then they will speak to Mum, _

_I wasn't supposed to tell anyone I was leaving_

_I'm not allowed to visit Troy _

_Mum might tell them about Eduardo_

_Mum thinks I'm going into hiding, she'll be suspicious why I'm making different plans_

_Mum knows I can't stay here Papa and Eduardo would find me. She knows that I know this too._

_What if they say no? Would they change their minds when we are married? Would it make them angrier with Troy for forcing them to do something they had already refused?_

_If not today then when:_

_Before the Wedding_

_All of the same problems as asking them today, and none of the advantages_

_Straight after the wedding. _

_Best to be honest as soon as possible_

_Gets things sorted before the end of the year_

_Gives us some time to work out what to do before Mum leaves if they say no._

_Not until Mum has to leave_

_That would mean not telling them about the wedding, they'd be even more angry about it if we don't tell them straight away, especially if they found out from someone else._

_Less time to organise what to do if they say no_

_Less time to move everything if they say yes_

Troy got his own pen and started adding to each list as Gabriella showed him.

_Asking J & L today:_

_Lucille expects Troy to ask today._

_Jack and Lucille going to bring up the question anyway. Either Troy tells them he wants me to stay or has to lie._

_If he tells them he doesn't want me to stay then they are more likely to refuse later._

_Might get things settled. One less thing to worry about._

_If I don't ask then Dad will think he was right and I'm over Gabriella, which will make it more difficult for him to accept the marriage._

_**If they offer and I say no Mum will know I'm lying**_

_**Mum will want to know why I won't tell her the truth. She's likely to ring Maria to find out what's going on.**_

_Not Asking J & L today:_

_If we ask then they will speak to Mum, They might anyway_

_- I wasn't supposed to tell anyone I was leaving_

_- I'm not allowed to visit Troy _

_- Mum might tell them about Eduardo_

_- Mum thinks I'm going into hiding, she'll be suspicious why I'm making different plans_

– _Mum knows I can't stay here Papa and Eduardo would find me. She knows that I know this too._

_What if they say no? Would they change their minds when we are married? Would it make them angrier with Troy for forcing them to do something they had already refused?_

_If not today then when:_

_Before the Wedding_

_All of the same problems as asking them today, and none of the advantages_

_Straight after the wedding. _

_Best to be honest as soon as possible_

_Gets things sorted before the end of the year_

_Gives us some time if they say no, to work out what to do before Mum leaves._

_**Saves us the stress of worrying how to tell them**_

_**Gabriella can move in straight away**_

_Not until Mum has to leave_

_That would mean not telling them about the wedding, they'd be even more angry about it if we don't tell them straight away, especially if they found out from someone else._

_Less time to organise what to do if they say no_

_Less time to move everything if they say yes_

_**We couldn't move in together until we tell them**_

_**I'm eventually going to get caught sneaking out, then Mum and Dad will ground me and they'll be angry which would make them less likely to agree.**_

Looking over the mentions of Mrs Montez on the lists Troy remembered that he hadn't told Gabriella about the mystery of the parental permission form. She did deserve to know. He had decided that he couldn't keep it from her, and she would likely know what it meant better than he did, and know what to do about it. Troy smiled to himself, there were definite advantages to having such a smart girlfriend.

"What are you smiling about?" Gabriella asked him.

"How wonderful you are and how much I love you." Troy answered still smiling. Putting off the questions he had until they had time to talk through them properly. He then drove to her neighbourhood and stopped around the corner from her house. "I'll talk to you later tonight" he said kissing her softly. "I really had a great time this afternoon." He added hoping she was okay with what they had done.

Gabriella blushed "Me too" she said quietly then in attempt to change the subject asked "What did you decide about asking your parents?"

Troy sighed "I won't bring it up myself, but if they do I'll have to ask if you can stay, it would be too suspicious if I don't. At least I know they won't bring it up unless they're prepared to allow you to stay, otherwise I think they'll just avoid the situation and hope that I don't ask so they don't have to refuse outright. Even if they are willing to have you come and stay with us, I think they'll want to talk it over with each other some more before they offer. Set out the rules we'd have to follow and stuff. I'm pretty sure they won't say anything tonight while Grandma and Grandpa are here. I think we probably have at least several days before they ask me anything, and we get married in less than a week so hopefully I can put the whole discussion off until after the wedding. I think we should tell them after that though, as soon as they come back on Sunday."

Gabriella agreed and kissing him quickly headed for her house. Troy watched until she had rounded the corner before heading home.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5 and Kiara for your constant support.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

December 2nd Monday Doctor's visit

Gabriella rang Troy early the next morning, Maria had a business meeting in Santa Fe and was out of the house well before seven giving Gabriella the chance to visit the doctor before school. Troy was very grateful for this because with the game against their biggest rivals the West High Knights coming up on Wednesday, Jack had scheduled Basketball practice during both free period and lunch as well as after school and would be extremely angry if Troy skipped any of them.

Gabriella was very quiet and red faced as Troy drove into town and stopped at the 24 hour chemist. Taking the prescription they had it filled without hassle to Troy's relief, and Gabriella put it in her handbag as they headed for the doctor's. They pulled up around the corner from the clinic and walked the rest of the way. Troy's truck was kind of noticeable and they didn't want it getting back to his parent's that he'd been visiting a doctor without their knowledge.

They entered and asked to see the doctor who took them straight in with a smile. Gabriella handed over the vial and the doctor checked the label, filled the syringe and said. "Okay Troy roll up your sleeve which arm do you want it in?"

They laughed and Gabriella held out her arm for the injection. The injection was given and a reminder card for three months was handed to Troy along with a list of side effects to watch out for.

"The doctor smiled at them both and told Troy he could go but not to do any heavy lifting or play sports for the next twelve hours.

Troy laughed again and told the doctor that he had four lots of Basketball practice that day and as both captain and the coach's son he couldn't see a way out of it.

The doctor laughed too and reminded him to take it easy.

Their laughter at the doctor's pretence that Troy was the one who received the injection had helped them get over their embarrassment and they were back to their normal selves by the time they arrived at school. They pulled into the school parking lot as the bell went. Troy tried to prevent Gabriella running but she insisted that painting sets in detention would be worse for her arm than a little running and they entered homeroom with seconds to spare.

Gabriella decided to spend at least the first half of lunch in the cafeteria with their friends especially as Troy would be coming from basketball practice and would undoubtedly be extremely late, if coach let them have any lunch break at all.

Taylor was surprised when Gabriella after buying lunch for herself and Troy, came over and sat down with her and Martha and started talking about the next round of the scholastic decathlon which was due to take place on the 12th of December.

"You've missed or spaced out through so many practices lately that I'd begun to think you didn't want to do the decathlon" Martha said.

"Of course she wants to do the decathlon" Taylor declared stubbornly, "but you're right about having missed too many practices. We'll have to practice every day after school if we want to be ready, and most of the weekend too. It's lucky you don't have any theatre rehearsals now."

Gabriella started to panic how could she tell them that she would be busy Friday and all weekend without letting them know about the wedding? She didn't want to use her Mum as an excuse because she knew Taylor was obsessed enough with the need to practice that she was likely to ring Maria and try to reschedule whatever she'd had planned to allow Gabriella to attend practice. In the end she didn't say anything letting Taylor believe she agreed with the practice schedule she was guiltily copying into her daily planner.

She may have managed to fool Taylor, but Martha had noticed her initial reaction and wondered to herself why if Gabriella so clearly did not want to do the scholastic decathlon she was incapable of telling her best friend the truth instead of letting Taylor bully her into participating.

Sharpay cornered Kelsi during Drama that afternoon, asking about the musical she was writing.

"I really haven't written a script at all yet though I do have a few songs that might possibly work, Darbus hasn't told us what she wants the musical to be about or even if she wants to use an original composition again or to go with one of the classics" Kelsi said evasively.

"I'm worried about Troy and Gabriella, the way things are going they may not even be talking to each other by spring. I would hate to have them ruin the musical with their fights" Sharpay lied.

"I don't know what's going on with them" Kelsi said worried about her friends, "but I'm sure they'll sort it out" she added hopefully. She thought back over the times she'd seen the couple together over the last few weeks. "I don't think they're fighting, something else is wrong" she said contemplatively.

"What do you mean you don't think they're fighting? Haven't you seen them lately they both seem so tense and unhappy, and they're hardly ever together anymore" Sharpay disputed.

"No. They both seem stressed out, but it doesn't seem to be directed at each other. And they're both actually worse when they're apart than when they're together. Troy's incredibly worried about Gabriella I think" Kelsi thought aloud.

Sharpay had a thought, and while she doubted it was true getting Kelsi to think about the possibility would help her plans. "You don't think she's pregnant do you?" she asked pretending to sound shocked.

Kelsi considered for a moment remembering the early days of her sister's pregnancy and comparing Troy and Gabriella's actions to those of her sister and her boyfriend. "No I don't think so" she concluded, finding more differences than similarities in the two couple's behaviour. She turned to Sharpay "Don't you dare start rumours like that about them, Sharpay" she said fiercely before gathering her music and leaving the room in disgust.

Sharpay sighed, clearly her hints to Kelsi that she shouldn't count on Gabriella singing the lead in the next musical hadn't paid off. She had considered whether starting a rumour that Gabriella might be pregnant, but if Kelsi knew she was the one who started the rumour she was capable of writing a musical that didn't have a part for her at all. She'd have to think this over carefully first. Besides starting a rumour like that would have a much better effect closer to auditions.

Later that night Gabriella brought up the problem with Troy. She hadn't had time to talk to him earlier because he hadn't arrived at lunch until after the warning bell for afternoon classes had rung. Gabriella had handed him his lunch and then carried his books to class for him while he ate on the way.

"Taylor's scheduled scholastic decathlon practice every day from now until the meet on the 12th, including most of the day Saturday and Sunday. How can I tell her that I'm not available all weekend without telling her why? She's going nuts over this. You know how she intense she gets. If I tell her I have a family function or something, she's likely to call my mum and demand that I be let off so I can practice for the decathlon" she said, Taylor's stress starting to rub off on Gabriella.

"Yeah, I know she told me this afternoon that you would be unavailable all weekend, she actually gave me the schedule and threatened me not to call you during practice or else" Troy chuckled.

"Or else what?" Gabriella asked surprised and annoyed that her friend had gone this far.

"She didn't say but as Chad says she can be one scary woman and when she's on a mission you don't want to get in her way." Troy gave an exaggerated fake shudder.

Gabriella laughed, "Yeah tough guy," she said. "But what should I tell her?"

"I guess you can't really tell her anything until Friday" Troy said thoughtfully.

"That seems unfair to the rest of the team."

"Gabriella you have a perfect memory, and you've done all this training last year and the two years before that too, do you really need to do it all again. I know you haven't forgotten any of it. You'll ace the competition even without any training at all if you had to." Troy reminded her comfortingly

"Well no, you're right. But we also need to spend time training as a team to build confidence in each other's strengths and weaknesses. Besides you know how competitive Taylor gets about the scholastic decathlon."

"Yeah I remember. She almost totally destroyed our friendship last year just to increase her chances of having you on the team." Troy replied.

"That seems so long ago. I can't believe how much has changed since then." Gabriella laughed before turning serious again. "The rest of the team are already not happy with me. They resent that they've been putting in so much effort while I've either missed practice or been too upset to concentrate on what we were supposed to be doing. Especially as one of us will only be an emergency at the competition and Taylor's made it clear to them that it won't be me sitting out no matter how many practices I miss." Gabriella said worried about the team morale when she missed even more practices.

"That'd make me and the guys mad if coach did that to us" Troy agreed. "Maybe you should offer to be the emergency this round because you can't come to the practices."

"Yeah I could. But Taylor will never forgive me if I sit out and they lose. Honestly I'm still a much better all choice than some of the others and it could make the difference."

"Well then you need to remind them of that next time that they get angry at you for missing practice" Troy suggested.

"I really don't want to do that. Taylor works so hard to be as smart as she is. I'm afraid she'd resent me if she realized I actually don't need to study much at all" Gabriella admitted.

Troy protested "You spend a lot of time studying"

Gabriella shook her head. "No I don't really Troy, Taylor spends about 5 hours a night doing homework and studying for tests. She does at least three drafts of every assignment and gets them checked by me and her parents and sometimes her teachers."

"I hand in the first or second draft of an assignment and read through my notes and the textbook once before a test. The only reason it seems that I spend so much time doing homework is the three correspondence courses I'm taking that either East High doesn't offer or I couldn't fit into my schedule."

"Three extra subjects? When you already have enough credits to graduate early." Troy asked shocked.

"These aren't for high school credits they are college courses in Spanish, Italian and mathematical theory."

"Mathematical theory, I thought you wanted to be a doctor?"

"Yeah I think so, but most premed subjects have a lab component so I couldn't do any of them by correspondence, and mathematics is fun to me Troy, it actually helps me de-stress."

Troy laughed at the idea of doing college level mathematics just for fun, and Gabriella slapped him softly on the arm.

"Gabi, you know Taylor much better than I do. I know she would never accidentally let a secret slip or be pressured in to telling someone like Chad probably would. So if she promised to keep it a secret and we told her about the wedding, would she keep her promise? Would she help us if we explained all the circumstances or would she try to stop us?"

Gabriella thought it over again, "I don't know, I know she wouldn't blab by accident like Chad would and I'd like to think she'd keep our secret if she had promised to, but this secret might be just too big for her. Especially if we couldn't convince her that we were doing the right thing. She has a huge respect for authority figures, and she doesn't really understand our relationship. She might convince herself that it is in our best interests that she tells someone so that they can stop the wedding. Why? Do you want to tell her?"

"I don't know. She's your best friend and if we do this without telling her she's going to be upset and angry. I don't want to be the cause of you losing your best friend. Chad will forgive me for keeping such a huge secret soon enough, he always has in the past, but Taylor really knows how to hold a grudge."

"That's really sweet Troy and I agree that not telling her will cause problems but honestly I don't think it's worth the risk. She'll try to stop us I know she will and if she can't do it by reasoning with me she might think she has to tell Mum. Even if she'd promised not to she might justify it to herself as being too big a secret to keep."

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5 and iminlove for your support.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"What about if we told her and the gang after school on Friday. Then they could come to the wedding, we need witnesses anyway and I'd rather have our friends than some random strangers. If we tell them at the last minute then your mum won't have time to stop the wedding even if they do manage to get in contact with her."

"It's not just having the time to complete the wedding before she finds us Troy, Mum could have our marriage annulled if she catches us before we have sex" said Gabriella blushing madly.

"Okay, what if we asked them to promise not to tell anyone, and then got them to give us their phones until after the wedding." Troy said before laughing wildly.

Gabriella glanced up at him surprised. "What could be so funny? This is serious Troy" she scolded him.

"I'm sorry... I just had this mental picture off us collecting up the phones in Darbus' paint tin, ranting about the evils of cell phones in... weddings" he explained still grinning.

Gabriella laughed too. "Yes that would be a bit much. But do you really think they'd let us have their cell phones for the weekend?" she asked uncertainly.

"We could give them back as we leave the ceremony, and then even if they do call your mum immediately she'd still have to find us. Even if she finds us before we actually do anything she can't prove we haven't so long as we've changed clothes and spent some time alone. Or maybe we could make a time to drop them off somewhere later Friday night, they'll probably all be out together somewhere anyway."

"I think that Taylor might try to stop the wedding if she could but once we'd gone through with the ceremony she probably wouldn't call mum because we'd already be married anyway. She'd think that it was too late to do anything about it and calling Mum afterwards would only get her in trouble with Mum and ruin our friendship." Gabriella said thoughtfully.

"Yeah but would she cover for you if you told your mum you were staying at Taylor's for the weekend?" Troy asked.

"Do you think mum would check up on me? She never has before she always rings my cell if she needs to talk to me" Gabriella asked surprised.

"Yeah but she's never been trying to make sure you don't spend any time with me before either." Troy sighed, even if it wasn't really making any difference in the amount of time they spent together he was still hurt by Maria's refusal to let Gabriella spend time with him.

"You have a point, how can I make mum believe I'll be at Taylor's all weekend studying for the decathlon."

"Easy get Taylor to be there when you ask your mum, she's so enthusiastic she's sure to rant about the importance of this training."

"Mum might offer to have her stay here me."

"What if you have a couple of training sessions at your place this week. Your mum will see you are studying and having the whole team over each night will start to get on her nerves, she'll be happy they're meeting somewhere else over the weekend" Troy suggested with a wicked grin.

"And Taylor will keep us all practicing until mum kicks them out each night so mum will have ample opportunity to observe how obsessed Taylor is with the need for the whole team to spend every spare minute studying. She will be satisfied that Taylor won't let me skive off practice to spend time with you" Gabriella nodded also grinning.

They lay quietly for a while, then as Gabriella almost drifted off to sleep Troy brought up their friends again

"Gabriella do you think our friends will understand?" He asked uncertainly.

Gabriella sighed, "I don't know Troy. Getting married makes perfect sense to you and me, but they haven't lived through what we have in the last few weeks. And none of them have a relationship like ours. They don't really understand how we feel about each other."

"No the guys are constantly having a go at me for being whipped." Troy agreed "They don't understand that I'm not whipped but I just can't be happy unless you're happy too."

"Everyone tells me we're too young to really feel this way, Taylor in particular. I know she's dating Chad but sometimes it seems that she's dating him because dating is a normal teenage thing to do and she wanted some normal high school experiences. She would never even consider putting any boy ahead of her studies or ambitions. She's my best friend but I worry sometimes that she's going to hurt Chad one day."

"Yeah, but she and Chad have talked about it. They know they will be going to different colleges and have decided that they do not want to try to maintain a long distance relationship. He doesn't feel the way we do about each other either" Troy replied.

"What about your guys will they understand?" Gabriella asked.

"Probably not, but hopefully they'll be okay with it anyway. They don't need to understand to support me, they learned that last year with the musical call backs. We're a team, we'll stick together. Chad will be the worst, but he'll come round so long as I don't give up Basketball." Troy chuckled a little. "They'll get over it quicker if they're in on the wedding. What about your other friends?"

"I think Ryan should be cool with it, he's use to ignoring what everyone else thinks is normal and doing what's right for him no matter what other people think. And he's used to being kept out of the loop on things because of his sister. Kelsi has always been a great supporter of our relationship so I think she'll be there for us even if she doesn't quite understand. I don't know how Martha will react, but being part of the group means a lot to her so she'll probably go along with the majority unless she feels really strongly about it for some reason" Gabriella said after a few minutes thought. "It really is only Taylor and our parents that I'm worried about. Do you really think it will make a difference them coming to the wedding?" she asked.

"Not so much that they came. But that we trusted them to keep it secret. It would be better still if they had to help planning how to get away with it" Troy said considering.

"But we can't involve them in the planning can we?"Gabriella asked in surprise.

Troy sighed, "No it's too big a risk, we'll have to tell them at the last minute and hope they co-operate and aren't offended that we didn't trust them sooner. If we ask Taylor and Chad to be the official witnesses at least they'll be involved. And Taylor or Martha will need to cover for you over the weekend."

"Where are we going to spend the weekend?" asked Gabriella.

Troy blushed "I had thought that maybe we could spend it at my house, Mum and Dad will be away all weekend, but we could go to a motel if you'd rather it's just..." he looked away and trailed off clearly uncomfortable.

Gabriella put a hand under his chin and gently turned his face towards hers so she could look into her eyes. "What is it Troy?" she encouraged.

"Well I couldn't afford a very nice motel and I thought that at least at home I could guarantee the sheets are clean and the bed is comfortable and it's quiet and nobody will be able to hear us, and it's more normal you know. I thought we'd be less nervous in a familiar place. " he tried to explain hoping that she wouldn't be offended. "And I don't want to spend a lot of money in case we need to get our own place next semester."

Gabriella smiled at his nervous rambling. "That's a good idea Troy you're right it might be easier at your place. But our parents would be more likely to find us at home if our friends don't keep the secret."

"Yeah you're right, but they'd check the hotels in the area too and it if they searched by phone then they could find out where we were before they even got back to Albuquerque" Troy replied.

"And if we stayed at your place for the weekend the guys would probably find us too" Gabriella sad nervously.

"We could steal Dad's keys and stay up on the roof at school, or take my tent and go camping. They'd be the last places they'd look" Troy offered trying to think of the most unlikely places.

Gabriella burst out laughing as Troy had intended "That's taking it to extremes Troy, and it's way too cold to stay outside like that at this time of year."

"Yeah, I think that it'd be safe enough to stay home. I've seen what happens when my parents are going away for the weekend, Mum will be on the phone trying to finalise stuff from the day and set up appointments for next week and Dad doesn't answer his phone while he's driving and your Mum is busy with appointments trying to finish everything before she leaves. It would be difficult for any of our friends to actually get through to either of our parents in time for them to stop us. And even if Maria found out where we are she can't get into the house if the doors are locked. I could leave my truck at the park so they'll think no-one's home." Troy said consideringly "We really only need to be alone long enough to change clothes, then we can tell everyone we've consummated the marriage."

They were quiet for a while then Troy asked "Do you want to go somewhere else for the weekend? We could go to Santa Fe or Los Lunas if you want to get away."

"No I like the idea of being somewhere familiar, at least at your place if things get awkward we can go downstairs and watch a movie or something, and we don't have to worry about breaking down in the middle of nowhere and needing to be rescued" she teased.

Troy laughed ignoring the slight to his truck this once, "Yeah that's what I thought I just didn't want you to think I wasn't trying hard enough... you know"

"Yes I know what you mean. But in this case trying too hard would only make things more difficult" Gabriella reassured him.

"Is the alarm set, if I stay much longer I might fall asleep but I don't want to go yet?" Troy asked tiredly.

Gabriella checked that the alarm was set for twenty to five am and kissed Troy goodnight as they settled down to sleep.

A/N: Thanks to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016 and WinterzKisses for your support.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

December 3rd Tuesday

"Don't you think it's strange your Mum had already signed that consent form?" Troy asked suddenly as they were sitting on the roof during lunch.

"What brought that up?" Gabriella looked up at him puzzled. Their plans were set weren't they, what made Troy bring that up again.

"I'm really glad that she did" Troy back-pedalled as he saw Gabriella's worried look "I'm just wondering why. It seems an odd thing to do."

"Now you mention it, it does seem odd. But does it matter why she did it?" Gabriella asked wondering where Troy was going with this.

"I don't know but I think it might be important. It's too unlike her" Troy said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella questioned.

"A couple of things are odd about it. One, she signed it 6 weeks before she had to, which if she wasn't happy about the marriage makes no sense. Two, it's like a contract and she signed it without filling it in, something a successful business woman would never do. And three, it's not the right form. Why did she even have it?"

"What do you mean it's the wrong form" Did the registry office contact you? Please tell me what's wrong. We can still get married can't we?" Gabriella asked in alarm.

"Gabriella chill, it's the right form we need for us to get married. I didn't mean to make you panic like that I'm sorry" Troy hugged her tightly

Gabriella calmed down "Okay then what did you mean about being the wrong form, it can't be the wrong form and the right form at the same time Troy now you're not making sense." Gabriella grumbled to him.

Troy smiled at her "That's just it. It's the right form for you to get married in New Mexico."

"So..."

"I thought that you were going to marry Eduardo in Illinois not here in Albuquerque? Because the form she signed is only valid here in New Mexico" Troy explained slowly.

"Actually I was to get married in Cuba at the church where my parents and grandparents were married. Are you sure it's the wrong form?" Gabriella asked suspiciously.

"Yes I went to the registry office today and asked for another one," he said taking a folded form out of his pocket. "This is the same as the form we had isn't it?" he asked, sure that it was.

He handed over the form and pointed out the small print that declared that the form was only valid in the State of New Mexico.

Gabriella took the form and examined it "It looks the same" she agreed handing it back to Troy. "Why did you get another one anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Well I was going to get you to hide it and the contract back in your Mum's jewellery case so if she checks they will be there. Then unless she looks at the form carefully she won't notice that we took it." Troy hoped that Gabriella accepted the half truth. True replacing the form was a good idea, but his real motivation had been to check Reverend Anderson's assumption that the consent form Maria signed wouldn't be valid in Detroit or Cuba.

"That's a good idea I'll do it next time Mum's out, but do you think it's necessary?" Gabriella questioned.

Troy shrugged. "I don't know but better to be safe than sorry, maybe you should try to make it look like she signed it too" he suggested.

"You mean forge my mother's signature?" Gabriella asked scandalised.

"Well.. Yeah. It's not like we're trying to use the forged signature to get married, just to make it less noticeable that this isn't the original form." Troy explained his reasoning hoping Gabriella would be okay with it.

"Okay I'll try." Gabriella said getting out her pen and a spare sheet of paper to practice copying her mother's name and handwriting.

"Back to my original question, do you have any idea why your mum had an half filled out yet signed consent form for you to get married in New Mexico?" Troy asked.

"No it makes no sense at all" Gabriella said baffled.

"Do you think that she wanted us to find it?" he said hopefully.

Gabriella frowned in thought. "It was pretty hard to find and locked up, it's not like she left it lying around" she objected.

"Yeah but she still had it. And we don't know why she did. Also if she wanted to make it impossible for you to find wouldn't she have kept it at work? Or at least kept the jeweller case key at work so we couldn't get into it?" Troy argued.

The subject was dropped as the warning bell for afternoon classes rang and Troy and Gabriella ran down to their lockers, but Gabriella like Troy couldn't stop thinking about what it might mean.

Kelsi had been keeping an eye on Troy and Gabriella, hoping to see signs that Troy had been telling the truth when he told her that their problems were sorting themselves out. So far she was satisfied with the way things were going. Troy and Gabriella both looked a lot happier than they had a week or two earlier, though they still hadn't confided in the group what was going on. They were both absent more often than usual sometimes she knew they were on the rooftop taking private time as a couple but they'd also left the school at least once and Troy seemed to be planning something big. Kelsi felt a little guilty keeping her conversation with Troy to herself but after careful thought she decided that she still didn't actually know anything that she needed to share with the rest of their friends. All she had were suspicions that things between Troy and Gabriella had got better and that they were planning something that they wouldn't tell her about, and the other's had also noticed that their favourite couple were happier and if not exactly more relaxed at least more positive in their reactions.

Maria had reluctantly caught a late night flight to New York on Monday for a full day's worth of meetings to complete the preparation for her trip to Mexico before flying home late Tuesday evening. She would normally have stayed two or three nights rather than schedule fourteen hours of back to back meetings between two late night flights, but was worried about leaving her daughter alone when she was still so upset and vulnerable. In truth Maria was a little taken aback by just how upset Gabriella had been over being forced to break up with Troy, even after Ginevra had come up with the offer to take her into hiding. Gabriella had seemed to be starting to cope better these past few days which she thought could be because of Ginevra's offer to go into hiding with her but she wasn't sure that it wasn't just a front to hide her real feelings.

Because Maria would be arriving home during the night Troy would not be able to stay over on Tuesday night. Therefore he came over straight from basketball training that afternoon. His truck hadn't started that morning so rather than wait for a ride from his father he skipped his shower after training and ran directly to Gabriella's and borrowed her shower.

When Gabriella looked up as Troy walked back into the bedroom to get his clothes after his shower it was all she could do not to start drooling. She had seen Troy shirtless many times over the summer (and enjoyed the view) but it had never affected her in such a primal way before now. There was a huge difference between Troy in swim trunks at Lava springs surrounded by other people and Troy naked except for a towel precariously wrapped around his waist alone with her in her bedroom.

Troy stared back at her and smiled knowingly. He watched her face as a drop of water cascaded down his chest and her eyes followed it eagerly until it was absorbed into the towel still tied at his waist. He let her eyes roam over his body hungrily. He'd never been vain and mostly took his looks for granted, but for the first time in his life he was glad of the side effects of the demanding basketball training and work-out routine that was responsible for how he looked. Gabriella finally noticed she had been staring for several minutes and finally lifted her eyes to connect with Troy's amused ones. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, which made her snap out of it.

"Are you finished checking me out?" he asked lightly.

Gabriella blushed at having been caught, and then decided to punish him for laughing at her "No" she declared feigning confidence "I haven't." Gathering all her courage she reached for the towel and pulled it loose letting it fall to the floor.

Troy felt excitement and apprehension in almost equal amounts. He had never felt so exposed. He desperately hoped Gabriella liked what she was about to see, and that she wouldn't be frightened by this new step in their relationship.

WARNING SMUT ALERT IF THAT'S NOT YOUR CUP OF TEA THIS IS THE END OF THE CHAPTER. WARNING SMUT ALERT IF THAT'S NOT YOUR CUP OF TEA THIS IS THE END OF THE CHAPTER. WARNING SMUT ALERT IF THAT'S NOT YOUR CUP OF TEA THIS IS THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

"Oh" she whispered, staring at his rapidly growing erection.

She was seated on the edge of the bed in front of him and his erection sprang out a mere foot from her face. He could see her face flush as she stared at it and her breasts bouncing slightly as she breathed. It excited him enormously that Gabriella got so worked up by examining his naked body.

She unconsciously reached toward him, as if to touch his penis, and then suddenly pulled her hand back. "Sorry," she whispered, blushing.

Troy's heart pounded as he considered what to say. He found her hesitation endearing and he certainly didn't want to push her into anything, but his body wanted her to touch him very, very badly. "You can touch it if you want" he whispered.

Gabriella nodded nervously, her eyes never leaving his penis, and tentatively reached her hand toward him. She touched his engorged head, and Troy sighed in delight. Then she wrapped her hand around his entire shaft, squeezing it gently and exploring its contours with her fingers.

"Oh Baby, that feels good" he encouraged. She saw her shoulders relax as she became more confident at his reaction.

"It's so soft and warm," she whispered, hesitantly exploring the skin of his crown with her fingers. He wanted to watch her reactions and the expressions on her face but he could barely keep his eyes open as she touched him. She slowly slid her hand down his cock, gripping it in a circle with her fingers, and Troy moaned at the friction. She looked up at him curiously, a little surprised at the look of raw need on his face.

When she reached the base, she ran her fingers unhurriedly through his pubic hair, then gently cupped his testicles. She gave them a cautious squeeze, and he shivered. She was just satisfying her curiosity, he knew, but it felt as if she were teasing him.

She returned her hand to his cock and lifted it up to explore its underside, her finger lazily tracing the thick veins that ran its length. She let it drop, and then giggled when it bounced.

Troy could take no more of this exquisite torture. "Please, Gabi... You're killing me."

"Am I hurting you? I'm sorry" she whispered horrified letting him go to bring both hands up to cover her face.

"No please don't stop" Troy groaned taking her hands in his.

"What do you want me to do?" she breathed softly, her nostrils flaring in a way that he found incredibly erotic.

"Just…stroke me. Like this."

He wrapped her small fingers around the head of his cock with his hand on top of hers, then slid them slowly down to the middle of his shaft setting a slow rhythm before taking his hand away. Troy breathed out sharply as she continued tugging gently on him, her eyes now riveted on his face.

"Like this?"

"Yes." He breathed out softly with each stroke, and glanced down to see her watching him intently. Every nerve in his body seemed to have relocated to his cock. After just a few moments of this he felt he could barely stand. He reached forward and put a hand on her shoulder for balance.

She stopped stroking for a moment, and he looked down at her questioningly. She was leaning forward slightly, and his erection was only inches from her face. She stared up at him with a look he couldn't name, some mixture of vulnerability, embarrassment, and lust.

"Do you want me to kiss it?" she asked softly, and Troy could feel her breath on his penis.

"God, yes Gabi" he groaned.

She licked her lips and leaned forward hesitantly. She kissed the tip tenderly for a moment, emitting a soft smooching sound, then softly caressed the underside of his crown with her tongue.

"Oh Fuck," Troy moaned, and gripped her shoulder tightly.

She leaned forward until she took the rest of his crown in her mouth, wrapping her lips tightly around it. Troy could feel her suction it gently; the feeling of her soft, warm tongue as his cock rested on it was almost more than he could bear.

She pulled back slowly, ever so slowly, and kissed the tip when she was finished. She began stroking his shaft lightly again and looked up at him questioningly.

"How was that?"

"Fucking perfect," Troy breathed heavily. "I'm going to cum soon. It will make a mess." He warned her, hoping she wouldn't be turned off by it.

"Okay, how do we... I mean what should I do?"

"Just keep going Gabi... please don't stop. Go a little quicker"

Gabriella looked down at his t-shirt that she was wearing and back up at him. "Will it wash out if you come on me."

He nodded jerkily. Her grip had tightened perceptibly, and she began tugging on him more firmly as his breathing became more rapid.

"Oh, god, Baby almost there," he gasped.

A moment later he moaned loudly and his penis spurted sticky white fluid onto her covered breasts. "Oh Baby... Oh god... Gabi..." He ejaculated all over Gabriella luckily missing her face as she watched in amazement.

He opened his eyes and smiled at her dazedly as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

"Wow," she whispered.

"Yeah Wow." Troy agreed pulling her up and kissing her deeply. "Thank you"

Troy pulled her up and held her close smearing the mess over both of them kissing her sleepily. "Now we need another shower" he grinned.

"What together, Troy..." Gabriella looked panicked.

Troy put his hands on her shoulders and held her so he could look in her eyes and smiled "Shh Gabi it's okay" Troy soothed her "Remember that you're the one in control here. Do you want to me to go shower downstairs?" he asked hoping she would refuse his offer but not surprised when she didn't.

Gabriella watched as he grabbed his towel and headed down the stairs relieved that he didn't seem too upset with her.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and iminlove for your support.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

December 4 Wednesday Basketball Game Day

"Are you going to be able to make it to the game this afternoon?" Troy asked as he lay quietly on the picnic blanket with Gabriella in his arms.

"Yeah I think so. Mom's working late and it's an early game so I should still be home before her."

"You will still have time to meet me after the game before you go don't you. I ended up hiding in the locker room and having to abandon my truck to avoid the fan girls last time." Troy shuddered dramatically and Gabriella laughed out loud.

"Yes I'll come and be your bodyguard" She teased him.

Troy again played brilliantly, impressing the various scouts that had attended the game. He was approached after the game by scouts from Duke and Boston University as well as by his first choice USC Berkley. He expressed his interest in their teams and spoke about what each school could offer academically. After seeing his dad watching him frowning and then leaving the room Troy also asked about the availability of accommodation suitable for a married couple on or off campus as his fiancé hoped to attend Stanford, Harvard or MIT.

The scout from Duke expressed disappointment that Troy would be unlikely to choose to play for his team in that case but asked that Troy keep them in mind if things changed and he wanted a fresh start away from his ex. The scouts from both Boston and USC confirmed that they believed such accommodation was available but couldn't give him any details.

Jack frowned watching Troy interact with the scouts. He was incredibly proud that his son had attracted so much attention and from such great Basketball teams, but was slightly disturbed by how intense Troy looked as he spoke with them. Troy had received a formal offer for a full scholarship to his alma mater U of A in the mail after speaking with their scout the week before, and Jack had thought that the offer would automatically be accepted. But watching Troy work the other scouts made him wonder if he was just trying to get U of A to improve their offer (which was already pretty darned impressive) or was he genuinely interested in receiving offers from other colleges. And why had Troy never spoken to him about it. Jack thought back over the past few months. As recently as last summer Troy was enthusiastically chasing an offer from U of A, but recently he had looked uneasy when the subject had come up. Had Troy been having doubts about his future, and if so what had changed. Troy had dreamed of playing for the Redhawks since he was a little kid. Jack had a suspicion that his son's dreams for the future had been changed by his desire to stay close to his girlfriend, Gabriella. Jack wanted to dislike the girl for that but the truth was that if Gabriella continued to make his son as happy as she did until recently he'd happily accept her position in Troy's life, even if it did mean he'd have to give up his dream of watching Troy play for the Redhawks.

Jack decided not to interfere with Troy's performance with the scouts. His son was proving to be one hell of a salesman and it looked likely that he would be receiving offers from all three colleges.

Jack had mixed feelings about this. He would have loved Troy to attend his alma mater, but Duke was actually far more prestigious not to mention had one of the best basketball teams in the country. It was also 1700 miles away, which would mean he and Lucille couldn't go to all the home games as he had planned to do when his son went to U of A.

December 5 Thursday

Gabriella was surprised to find her aunt Ginevra waiting for her when she got home from school. She made an effort to behave normally but inside she was panicking.

"Hi Aunt Ginevra, I didn't expect to see you again so soon." She greeted her taking a seat. "Where's Mum?" she added noticing that her Aunt was alone in the kitchen. This was unusual because the sisters were very close and greatly regretted not being able to see each other frequently, normally when the opportunity arose they would follow each other from room to room rather than interrupt their conversation.

"She's gone out for a bit so we could talk" her Aunt explained. "Because she signed that thrice-dammed marriage contract no matter how pleased she is that you've found a way to avoid fulfilling it, she feels honour bound not to be involved in our planning."

Gabriella looked up at her aunt in surprise "Surely she doesn't still want me to marry Eduardo? Doesn't she know I'd rather die?" she asked beginning to get upset. She had thought that, in spite of her initial reluctance, her mother had accepted her Aunt's plan to take her into hiding. This was terrible. How would she ever get her mother to accept her marriage to Troy if she was still on Eduardo's side to begin with?

"No Gabi, your mother knows you will not be happy with Eduardo and wants you to avoid the marriage as much as we do. But she mustn't be seen to be involved in trying to thwart the contract. Your father and Eduardo could make things difficult for her legally if they can prove she knew in advance that you were going to run away and she didn't try to stop it. That is why I've come to see you today while your mother is in meetings out of town until at least eight o'clock. She can prove she didn't see me today. And all the calls she's made to me in the last week have been made from your cell phone so no one can prove she's been in contact with me."

This comforted Gabriella, she'd thought her mother had insisted on her leaving her cell phone downstairs to limit her contact with Troy and her friends. The fact that her mom had needed to use it herself to help her escape the marriage contract was much less upsetting. "Okay what do we need to do or plan today then?"

"Well firstly I need your passport so I can organise the Visas you will need for February. And I also should take some of your stuff today to make it easier for you to get away without alerting your mother in advance (or anyone else who may be watching the house), and we need to plan a time and place to meet. I think your mother is being paranoid in thinking you are being watched but it won't hurt to be overcautious. After all being paranoid doesn't automatically mean you are wrong" Ginevra explained.

"My passport is in my room, you may as well come up so I can pack while we talk." Gabriella told her Aunt leading her up the stairs. At the top of the stairs there were two large duffle bags sitting outside Gabriella's room.

"Did someone pack for me already?" she asked in astonishment.

Ginevra laughed "No I wouldn't dare assume I would know what you wanted to take with you and what you wanted to throw out or keep with you until the last minute. The bags are full of paper and empty plastic bags. If the house is being watched it's better if I'm not seen taking away anything more than I came with."

Gabriella laughed at this as well and started to sort her clothing into piles while she quickly thought through what to pack. The choice of what she needed in the next few weeks was easy enough although some of these things would be impossible to explain to her aunt. But as she still didn't know if she would actually be going to stay with Aunt Ginevra at all let alone how long she might be staying, she decided that she should pack up the things she would need if she did go to live with her aunt in Europe and worry about how to get her stuff back later. Therefore she quickly filled the bags with her heaviest clothing and coats that she had no use for in Albuquerque but would be grateful for if she ended up in France.

With that done she went to her drawers and collected her passport. "Won't Papa and Eduardo be able to use the visa applications to find me, particularly since Mum's leaving the country too?" she asked.

"I don't think so. Your Mum's visas have all been organised through her company several weeks ago as have mine, so the dates on your applications won't match either Maria's or mine, and I have arranged for you to stay with a friend of mine in New York for a week or two so the departure dates won't match the time of your disappearance either. I will also get you multi-entry visas for several different countries, not all of them the same as mine and you will fly to Rome and then catch a train to Geneva and then travel into the country with friends of mine before catching a bus to Paris where I will collect you and drive the rest of the way. Then when you get to France all your accommodation will be booked in my name and I will introduce you as my niece Gabi Petrona. 'Gabriella Montez' will simply seem to vanish in Paris."

Gabriella felt guilty, her aunt had put a lot of thought and effort into these escape plans, and if things went the way Gabriella wanted them to she would not be going to France at all. She vowed to call her aunt straight after she had told her mother about her marriage to Troy.

"You sound so organised, have you given any thought to what I'm actually going to do while we're in France?" she asked knowing that would have been one of her first questions if she was actually planning to live with her aunt.

"Yes given your love of learning I have arranged for you to take some courses in French and French History and literature at what you would call the local community college. I think you could even take them under your real name if we use a letter drop as your address. The risk should be minimal as these classes will be taught in French and Italian and are not designed for international students no one will think to look for you there. Actually I have something for you which should help" she said handing Gabriella several French language guides and tapes.

"Thank you, these will make a big difference."

"Yes with all the countries being so close you would stand out as being American if you didn't speak the language at all, or spoke with a strong American accent." Ginevra warned her niece.

Gabriella smiled sadly, her Aunt indeed knew her very well and had put so much effort into the plan. She would have enjoyed those courses, and an extra language would be very useful when applying to postgraduate programs in the future. She finished filling the smaller bag with clothes, books and her photo album.

"I thought you had stopped seeing Troy?" her aunt asked seeing all the photographs of the two of them that Gabriella was packing. It was difficult to part with them even temporarily though she knew she wouldn't need them if she moved in with Troy. He had almost as many photographs of the two of them as she did (something Chad and the guys teased him mercilessly about).

"I love him Aunt Ginevra" Gabriella answered quietly.

"Oh Gabi" her Aunt sighed. "Your mother is right about this sweetie. You need to move on, you will grow and change so much before you see him again. It really would be better to leave the photos behind and make a fresh start. If it's meant to be then you'll run into each other again after college and things will all work out, but please don't put your life on hold hoping that it will happen. Promise me that you and Troy will not commit yourselves to remaining faithful to each other. It will only make you miserable." Ginevra prayed that Gabriella would listen. Promises of fidelity in situations like this when it was unsure when they would be able to see each other again were rarely kept by both parties and almost universally led to heartache.

Gabriella sighed but didn't argue. She silently removed the pictures of Troy from her bag and replaced them on her shelves. She didn't agree but wouldn't put it past her aunt to take them out of her bag and hide them away from her anyway. She reminded herself that it didn't matter she wouldn't be going anywhere without Troy if she had anything to say about it anyway.

Her aunt smiled pleased at what she saw as Gabriella's common sense leading her in the right direction. "Okay when does school finish" she asked.

"On Friday the 20th, at 3pm." Gabriella responded. "Are you going to pick me up from school or from here?"

"Neither. You're mother thinks that we shouldn't meet at the house and we probably should meet somewhere you don't normally hang out, but not too far from school as I'm assuming you'll have a heavy bag full of last minute packing. Remember though to keep it as small as possible" Ginevra said.

"How about we meet at the mall" Gabriella said after a moment's thought. "I could get a ride with my friends so I wouldn't have to draw attention to myself with a heavy bag on the bus. Even if anyone is following me they won't be too suspicious at seeing a teenage girl going shopping with her friends. We normally use the south car park, so if you parked in the north car park I could meet you in Macy's about 4.30. I could change clothes and hairstyles in the fitting room and there's two different ways out of the store. If we tell each other in advance what we will be wearing and maybe I put on my hat or push up my sleeves when I see you so as soon as you see me with my sleeves pushed up you can leave and I'll follow at a distance. We don't even have to be seen talking to each other until we get in the car." Gabriella really didn't think all of this cloak and dagger would be necessary but again she didn't bother to argue knowing that she wouldn't be leaving with her aunt anyway.

"Hmm that sounds workable. I'll wear jeans and a red t-shirt or jacket. I don't want us to stand out because we're not appropriately dressed for the weather."

Gabriella laughed "No red won't work, most of East high will be in red or white for the last day of school. Don't wear blue and gold either because it will be West High's last day too. I'll wear this green top. She showed her aunt the lightweight jumper that should be appropriate for the weather."

Ginevra laughed "I'd forgotten about school colours I'll wear plum then."

"Okay."

"I'd better get out of here then. I'll see you on the 20th." They walked downstairs and loaded the suitcases into her aunt's car before Gabriella hugged her aunt who kissed her on the cheek. After she left Gabriella went back upstairs and tidied her room returning all her photographs to their rightful places.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, WinterzKisses, Wildcats2016 and iminlove13 for your support.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

When Maria got home she talked obliquely about Gabriella's day asking if everything had gone to plan. She smiled when Gabriella assured her that it had gone as expected. Gabriella realised that her aunt was right. Her mother did want her to escape the marriage contract; she was just trying to provide assistance in a way that allowed her 'plausible deniability' as the lawyers would call it. She jumped up and gave her mother a quick hug. "I'm going to miss you Mum" she whispered softly before going upstairs to finish her homework.

Later that night she explained to Troy what her aunt had said about her mother. "So it is possible that she did deliberately sign and hide that form then?" he asked.

"Yes I think so." Gabriella replied. Now that I think about it The writing on the form looks like it's Mum's and I'm sure it actually is, but it also looked a little bit like my writing too, more than Mum's writing usually does I mean." Maria and Gabriella's hand writing was normally quite similar and Gabriella was right Maria had maximised these similarities when she filled out and signed the form.

"So anyone investigating couldn't be sure if she signed it or if you forged the signature, very clever." Laughed Troy

"But that will invalidate our marriage!" Gabriella exclaimed upset.

Troy frowned as he thought for a moment. "No your Mum actually signed the form so it is valid. And It shouldn't matter if Eduardo and your father try to question it, unless you admit to forging the form by the time they can take it to court and try to prove it you will be eighteen. And handwriting experts aren't going to be able to prove you signed it because you didn't" he tried to reassure his fiancé.

"But I don't want our marriage invalidated" Gabriella said quietly. Sensibly she knew that invalidating the marriage would not end their relationship, it might even be for the best, and they could go back to dating like normal couples their age and if things worked out then get married again after college. The problem was that her heart was no longer interested in doing the sensible thing.

Troy was secretly very pleased with her reaction. He knew that Gabriella loved him and wanted to be with him. And that she wanted to marry him, given her current circumstances. But he had thought she would prefer to have a more normal teenage relationship and a big white wedding she finished college. Apparently since having started the planning she had come to want to be married as much as he did.

He tightened his arms around her. "Gabriella, I meant it when I proposed I promised to marry you and you promised to marry me; if they invalidate the marriage which they shouldn't be able to, we will still be engaged. We can get married again as soon as you want to. Have a small ceremony at dawn the day of your birthday or a big wedding with all our friends and family present over the summer. Whatever you want Gabi. As far as I see it on Friday you will become my wife. It doesn't matter what the lawyers may say afterwards, nothing will change that. We will still be married in our hearts."

Gabriella relaxed into Troy's embrace comforted by his words, not wanting to remind him that she even on her birthday she still wouldn't be old enough to marry him again.

"One good thing about this though, if your mum did hide that form for us to find, then she can't be angry that we found and used it." Troy said optimistically.

Gabriella sighed and shook her head. "I don't know if it's that simple Troy. She hid that form before Aunt Ginevra offered to help. Now that I have another option she might be disappointed that I didn't go into hiding instead."

"Yeah." He sighed "I guess it was wishful thinking, hoping that we could at least count on one of our parents not to go ballistic."

"Well maybe she won't, she argued long and hard before accepting Aunt Ginevra's plan and then only gave in after Aunt Ginevra agreed to let me finish the semester before going into hiding. That's what gave us the time to get married before Ginevra took me away."

"I guess it doesn't really matter anyway if she's going to Mexico, even if she is still angry with us. It's Dad that we need to worry about. He could make our life hell at school as well as kicking us out if Mum can't calm him down enough to listen to the whole story."

"Mmmm" Gabriella agreed.

"I half expected them to ask about you moving by now if they were prepared to allow you to stay with us." Troy said "I know that it's good that it didn't come up until after the wedding. At least now we can be totally honest with them, but I'm still a little worried that they haven't asked about it."

"You haven't spent much time with them lately for them to have a serious conversation like that Troy."

"Yeah I'm being silly aren't I? I avoided Mum and Dad all week so they wouldn't ask me about it and now I'm worried because they haven't."

Gabriella reached across and set the alarm for a quarter to five. "Stay tonight Troy" she asked.

"Sure" he said kicking off his shoes and socks and climbing into bed as she went to the bathroom to get ready for the night.

"I'm really looking forward to being able to this every night without having to sneak out before morning." Troy said taking her into his arms as she lay down.

"Yeah me too" Gabriella replied laying her head on his shoulder.

They cuddled up together but both of them were too excited/anxious about the next day to sleep.

Hesitantly Gabriella said "we never talked about how you feel about me not being seventeen." She held her breath, the last time her friends had found out she was a year younger than they were she'd been shunned.

Troy thought for a moment then said "I dunno! Nothing's really changed, it's not as if you've suddenly got younger just because I suddenly found out about it. I've always known you were probably the smartest person I will ever meet." Troy answered then gave her a cheeky grin and added "so you're even more 'scary smart' than I already knew."

"Troy" Gabriella protested slapping him lightly.

"Seriously, we both know that you're more mature than I am a lot of the time, so your age is not a problem."

"You still think that I'm old enough to marry?"

Troy kissed her softly before addressing her fears "Yes I still want to marry you. If anything this makes me even more sure I want to marry you now than if you were 17, because you'd have to go away into hiding for longer if we didn't get married. I can't even imagine 18 months without you."

"You'd find someone else"

Troy laughed "Gabriella I've never been even slightly interested in any other girl. Before we met girls were just an annoying part of being on the team. I was even starting to wonder if there was something wrong with me not to be even a little bit interested. Honestly it's you or nobody for me." Troy thought for a moment then sighed.

"Your age doesn't matter to me Gabriella, but I was a little hurt that you thought it would make any difference. I love you Gabi'. I thought that you said that you could tell me anything. And all this time you've been worrying about me finding out that you're 16. It's not so much that I didn't know, I'm hurt that you were afraid to tell me" Troy said sadly.

Gabriella hugged him tightly "I'm sorry" she said quietly.

"I remember when I wished you a happy 17th birthday and you were clearly uncomfortable. I thought you were embarrassed about being the centre of attention..."

"That was part of it too but part of me I wanted to correct you all and I was afraid of what everyone would say."

"Does Taylor know?" Troy asked not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"No Troy, I would never tell Taylor stuff like that instead of telling you."

Troy looked surprised "It's true Troy; I tell you almost everything I would tell Taylor except academic things about previous schools that you're not interested in and the really girly stuff."

Troy smiled reassured of his place in his girlfriend's (soon to be wife's) heart and life. Then after thinking for a few moments said "You know I think maybe you should tell Taylor. She'll be upset if she finds out and thinks you lied to her especially if she knows you told me."

"Yeah! Maybe in a week or so when everything settles down." Gabriella agreed dropping the subject.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, keyonna13c, iminlove13, and wildcats2016 for your support.

Sorry Wildcats2016 a few more chapters before the wedding.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

December 6 Friday

Troy and Gabriella both may as well have stayed at home for all the attention they paid in classes that day. Each was nervous and jittery. They had decided that they wanted their best friends Chad and Taylor to witness the wedding and possibly Jason, Zeke, Ryan, Kelsi and Martha there too if they could arrange it. Troy was in charge of telling the guys and Gabriella was going to tell the girls. That way the girls could help Gabriella with her hair makeup and dress and the guys could help Troy get ready and make sure the chapel was ready.

Troy had arranged to meet Gabriella outside a cafe that was halfway between the registry office and the chapel at quarter to four and walk to the ceremony from there. Troy was sure she would love the chapel and hoped that she would appreciate the surprise.

Their friends became increasingly worried as the day went on. Troy and Gabriella didn't seem to be unhappy like they had been earlier in the month. But they were totally in a world of their own. Neither had paid any attention to anything going on around them at all in the whole day. Chad and Taylor had taken responsibility for their respective best friends steering them through the hallways and trying to draw the teachers' attention away from them. It was lucky that they succeeded because Troy and Gabriella would have been in serious risk of accumulating several detentions otherwise.

Troy met his friends at the cafe where he would later meet Gabriella, his suit was already in the back room of the chapel waiting for him, he'd dropped it off that morning when he went over to tidy up after the Thursday afternoon bible classes. School let out at three o'clock and he dropped Gabriella and Taylor at Gabriella's then made a quick stop at the florist to pick up his order before going over to the cafe to wait for his friends. He hoped they'd all be on time he had tried to make them see how important this was to him but without being able to give them any details he wasn't entirely sure they'd show up.

He paced nervously while waiting for them, this was actually the part of the wedding that he was most nervous about. He had no doubts that he was doing the right thing marrying Gabriella. What he was unsure about was how to get his friends to accept the idea or at least not try to stop him.

3.10

Gabriella ran inside and quickly checked that her mom wasn't home before the other's got there. Taylor was trying to give Gabriella the third degree to find out what was going on but Gabriella refused to answer before the other's got there. She knew that she was taking a risk meeting at the house but there was no other way that she could wear her wedding dress. She could confiscate their cell phones but it would still be possible for one of them to use the house phone to call her mother while she was getting ready if they were determined to stop the wedding. Kelsi and Martha arrived and Gabriella led them up to her bedroom and demanded they hand over their cell phones.

"Okay Sunshine Spill. What's going on?" Taylor said as she handed over her phone.

"Well it's a long story and we really don't have time to explain it all now, but basically my father has arranged a marriage for me at Christmas and the only way to prevent it is to get married first. I am meeting Troy at the courthouse at quarter to four and we would like you all to come to our wedding.

"What?" They all shouted at her.

"You're going to throw your future away for Troy? You're not thinking clearly" Taylor all but shrieked.

"Are you sure there's no other way?" Martha asked

"It's either leaving school and going into hiding and not being able to talk to anyone even my mum, or marrying Troy and being able to stay here?"

"What about Stanford?" Taylor asked trying to remind Gabriella of what she thought Gabriella was throwing away.

"I'll still go to Stanford. Troy will come to California with me; he's applied to a heap of colleges close to Stanford."

"But you can't do this. Do you know the statistics on teenage marriages? Almost all of them fail and most teens who marry right out of high school don't ever finish college." Taylor lectured at her.

"STOP! I've thought about all this. I don't have time to argue with you. Are you going to help me get ready or not."

"I can't help you do this Gabriella You're ruining your future." Taylor said stubbornly turning to leave the bedroom.

"And what sort of future do you think I'd have married to a complete stranger who won't even let me finish my senior year of high school." Gabriella yelled in exasperation turning her back on them and getting her dress out of the closet.

Taylor stopped but did not turn around.

Gabriella ignored her and did her hair and makeup and then put the dress on with the silent help of Kelsi who after her initial shock had stayed out of the argument Taylor was trying to continue."

Finally ready to go, Gabriella turned to her best friend and said in a quiet voice. "Taylor, I'm marrying Troy. You have three choices. Either support me like a friend should, go home and keep quiet, or destroy our friendship forever by trying to stop this."

"You can't mean this Gabriella. Please think it through properly" Taylor begged almost in tears.

"I have Taylor. I thought I had three choices, either leave everyone I know to spend eighteen months in hiding, constantly looking over my shoulder and praying I'm not found, or to marry a stranger almost old enough to be my father and move to Detroit or to commit suicide. Then Troy proposed and I want to marry him more than anything in the world. Please don't ruin my wedding."

Taylor finally stopped arguing and actually looked at the determination in Gabriella's face. She heard the desperation in her friend's voice as she spoke about the situation and understood that this was the best possible option for her friend.

"I'm sorry Gabriella I should be supporting you. I love you like a sister. I still don't like the idea of you and Troy getting married so young but if you truly believe that this is what's best for you then I'll help anyway I can."

Gabriella gave Taylor a quick hug. "Thanks Tay. I love you too. Now let's go we're going to be late."

3.14pm

The guys arrived clamouring to know what was going on. Troy whistled for silence then announced that it was big and to make sure they didn't stuff this up he could only tell them if they gave him their phones to guarantee they couldn't call anyone for the next two hours. They started yelling protests but Troy whistled for silence again. "We don't have time for this" he said "either trust me and hand over the phones or leave. I could really use your help on this one, but I need to know you won't tell anyone. You'll understand in a minute."

Chad handed over his phone, "You've never led me wrong before" he said. Seeing Chad agree the others followed and Troy put the four phones into his bag. "Okay I don't have a lot of time to argue about this so let me start by saying I'm one hundred percent sure this is what I want to do and that anyone who tries to stop this will never be forgiven." The boys frowned at how serious their captain was being. Troy took a deep breath, "Gabriella and I are getting married at four o'clock today." He held up his hands for silence. "I love her, and if she doesn't marry me then she'll be forced to marry a friend of her father's at Christmas."

"Dude, seriously this is a bit extreme. You need to worry about your future not getting married. What about college." Chad argued.

"It's almost 3.30pm I don't have time to argue, we've been planning this for weeks now it's not some spur of the moment thing. Are you going to help or not."

"We're with you Bro. I think you're insane but we're with you all the way. " Chad replied. "What team?" he yelled leading the others in the wildcat chant.

They made their way to the chapel where the wildcats helped reverend and Mrs Anderson set up while Ryan helped Troy with his suit and tie.

3.43

Troy handed the bag with the boys' phones in it to Reverend Anderson explaining why the others were not allowed into it, then left to meet Gabriella and hopefully the other girls. The chapel was ready, Reverend and Mrs Anderson were ready, he was ready all he needed now was Gabriella. He paced around praying they would come.

3.49

Martha's and Kelsi's cars pulled into the parking lot between the church and the courthouse. The other girls got out but not Gabriella. They could see Troy starting to panic and Kelsi ran up to him and hugged him. "It's alright Troy. Gabriella's here. We just don't want you to see Gabriella in her dress before the ceremony. It's bad luck. You lead the way and we will follow. No turning around to peek though okay"

Troy laughed in relief as Taylor joined them, "I promise not to peek" he said "Gabriella doesn't know it yet but we're getting married in the chapel just up here." He turned and began walking away from the registry office.

Kelsi squealed in delight as they began to follow, and Taylor laughed "Trust you Bolton to make even a hastily arranged secret wedding romantic."

Troy grinned blushing "Gabriella deserves so much more than this, it's the least I could do. I don't want her to look back on our wedding day and regret it."

"Oh we approve Troy. We're just teasing you a little" Martha said playing the peacemaker (normally Gabriella's job).

Kelsi and Martha made sure Troy didn't turn around and peek while Taylor turned back to the car to collect the bride.

3.50

Inside the car Gabriella began to panic "What's he doing? He's going the wrong way!" She said to Taylor as she arrived to help Gabriella out of the car.

Relax Sunshine he has a surprise for you. It's all fine let's go" said Taylor calmly.

Gabriella got out of the car and started following Troy. "Where are the Guys? Surely they didn't all ditch him?" She worried. She knew that Troy was giving up a lot to marry her at this time, but she hadn't expected him to have to give up his friends as well. Her heart ached for him. She knew that he'd go through with it not only to protect her or because he'd promised but because he truly didn't believe he could live without her. She vowed to do everything in her power to reconcile his friends to their marriage. She was so busy worrying about Troy that she hadn't taken any notice of where they were going so she gasped in shock as she came to the steps of the chapel. "Please please God let Chad and the guys be inside with Troy" she prayed.

3.51

Kelsi who had been walking with Troy, stopped Gabriella before she opened the doors. "Someone will be out to get us in a moment" she told her.

Gabriella finally noticed where they were, "I can't believe it" she said in delight. "I've always loved this little chapel."

"I can. That boy would do anything for you. We all know that. Why would it surprise you that he would try to make even an urgent secret wedding as romantic as he could?" Taylor replied.

Gabriella laughed "I guess so! But I have no idea how he could have arranged this"

Thanks to Wildcats2016, Kiara, Pumpkinking5 and musiclover121212 for your support.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

4.00

At that moment Ryan opened the door "Wow Gabriella you look perfect. Come on in we're ready to get started." The other girls slipped into the chapel while Ryan spoke.

Ryan then handed her the bouquet of long stemmed red roses he was holding "These are from Troy for you" he explained as he held the door open for Gabriella before entering behind her.

Gabriella felt a moment of overwhelming panic, until her gaze found Troy's beaming, loving face. The minute she locked eyes with him, chocolate brown on dazzling blue, she relaxed instantly.

Troy's heart gave a sudden bound as he saw Gabriella. He'd never seen her look more exquisite. Gabriella always seemed incredibly beautiful to him on the best of days, but today... today it didn't even seem possible that this was reality. He felt proud that this wonderful girl loved him and would soon be his wife that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. He reminded himself to breathe as she slowly walked up the isle toward him.

Gabriella reached the front of the Chapel and Troy took her hands into his as they turned towards the minister.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Troy and Gabriella in matrimony, which is commended to be honourable among all men; and therefore – is not by any – to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly – but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly.

Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

For a moment Taylor thought about speaking up to stop this marriage but she held her tongue remembering that she had promised to support her friend no matter how irresponsible she thought this was.

After a moment of silence fraught with tension, Reverend Anderson continued. "Troy has chosen today a reading from the book of Ruth 1:16-17

But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

"Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."

He turned to Troy and asked him to say his vows

"I, Troy David Alexander Bolton, take you, Gabriella Juanita Montez, to be my lawfully wedded wife, secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love.

On this special day, I give to you in the presence of God and these witnesses my sacred promise to stay by your side as your husband in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad.

I promise to love you without reservation, honour and respect you, provide for your needs as best I can, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, protect you from harm, comfort you in times of distress, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live." Troy spoke clearly and calmly, without hesitation, obviously meaning every word he said.

"I, Gabriella Juanita Montez, take you, Troy David Alexander Bolton, to be my lawfully wedded husband, secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love.

On this special day, I give to you in the presence of God and these witnesses my sacred promise to stay by your side as your wife in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad.

I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live." Gabriella replied more emotional than Troy, but in control for the moment.

"Do you have the rings?"

Chad nodded and pulled the box out of his pocket and gave it to Troy. Troy opened it and gave his ring to Reverend Anderson before taking Gabriella's ring and beginning to slide it onto her left ring finger. "Gabriella, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and devotion to you. I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your husband. With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love."

Tears of joy filled Gabriella's eyes and splashed down onto their joined hands as Troy slid the ring the rest of the way home. He looked up at her in alarm then relaxed as she smiled at him through her tears.

Reverend Anderson passed Troy's ring to Gabriella and sliding it onto his finger she said. "Troy, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and devotion to you. I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your wife. With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love."

"By the power vested in me by the State of New Mexico, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride"

Troy and Gabriella kissed softly until interrupted by the boys' loud catcalls. Troy grinned at his blushing wife and whispered in her ear. "At least this time Chad didn't interrupt until after the kiss."

"I present to you Mr and Mrs Troy Bolton." The wildcats cheered and the girls rushed to hug Troy and Gabriella.

After the ceremony they all posed for photographs with Mrs Anderson, before thanking both the Anderson's and promising to keep in touch. Troy and Gabriella were the last to leave the chapel. Knowing they were about to be ambushed by their friends they took a deep breath and holding hands emerged into the afternoon sunlight.

"Okay, time to repay our trust. We've gone along with all this without knowing why. It's time to explain the rest of the story. Just why was all this secrecy and haste necessary?" Stated Taylor decisively.

"It's a bit of a long story, let's head somewhere less public." Troy answered.

"Your place." Chad suggested.

"No I don't know if Mum and Dad have left yet. It's important they don't find out until tomorrow."

"Well you're not exactly dressed for the park or the mall" Martha pointed out.

"We could go to my place" offered Ryan, "my folks are out of town, but I don't know if Sharpay will be home yet." Troy shuddered at the idea of running into Sharpay and having to explain that they'd got married and that they hadn't invited her.

"I'm hungry, let's go for some pizza" Chad suggested.

"Chad you're always hungry." Taylor huffed at her boyfriend.

"No pizza sounds fine, we could get a corner booth. It's early so the place will still be filled with younger kids not people we know." Troy said after some thought.

They piled into the cars and drove to the pizza parlour. The newly wedded couple attracted some attention in their formal attire amongst their more casually dressed friends but nobody paid them much notice after they'd all sat down and ordered.

After claiming their table Troy and Gabriella returned all the cell phones to their friends.

"Okay spill." Martha said. "You guys haven't been yourselves for weeks now, Gabriella kind of explained why you did this but we want to hear how you made such a huge decision."

"And how you managed to organise all this without anyone finding out" Taylor added.

"Well it started about 3 weeks ago" Gabriella began, "Mom told me that we were going to my father's for Christmas and that Papa had arranged for me to marry a friend of his."

Her listeners made shouts of protest "That's Barbaric in this day and age" exclaimed Taylor. She'd been so upset about the sudden wedding earlier that she hadn't really taken in the reasons behind it.

"He can't do that!" shouted Chad.

"Oh no they couldn't. Surely your Mom wouldn't let him do that?" cried Kelsi.

"No wonder you guys were so upset" said Ryan.

"No way man that's awful" said Zeke.

"That's terrible, why would your parents do such a thing?" asked Martha.

"What's that got to do with you getting married?" asked Jason.

"We started looking for the contract to see if we could find a way to get around it and we found a half completed parental permission form to allow Gabriella to get married before she's eighteen." Troy started to explain the process they'd been through.

"Half completed?" asked Taylor blankly "What use was that?"

"Yeah apparently Mum couldn't remember how to spell Eduardo's name or something so she filled in the rest and signed it but hadn't filled in the groom's name and details." Gabriella explained electing not to share their conjecture that Maria may have signed the permission form deliberately.

"When I saw that I realized that we could use the form to get married before Gabriella had to go to Cuba. She can't be forced into marriage with this Eduardo guy now that she's already married to me."

"Yes bigamy's illegal even in Cuba" Taylor replied dryly.

"So you two got married just to protect Gabriella?" asked Kelsi sounding upset, she'd been thrilled by the romance of their wedding and didn't want to think it wasn't real.

"No, once we talked about it we realized that we wanted to be married even if it was no longer absolutely necessary."Troy answered blushing a little.

"Not necessary how? Did your father change his mind?" asked Martha.

"I doubt it. Mum and I haven't spoken to my father since I was eight. It was his lawyers that contacted us with the date and location of the wedding. Mum's sister, my Aunt Ginevra has a new job in Europe, it's very isolated and she offered to take me into hiding with her. I would fly to Paris then disappear. Once I turn eighteen they wouldn't be able to force me into marriage."

"So Gabs had another way out and you still got married bro?" Chad seemed shocked that Troy willingly gave up his freedom.

"Yeah Chad and it's the best decision I ever made" Troy told his friend, hoping that Chad would accept that this is what he wanted.

"What about college? How a marriage going to work next year when you will be about a thousand miles apart? Please tell me you are still planning to go to Stanford Gabriella." Taylor begged her friend not wanting to hear that Gabriella had given up her dream college for Troy.

"Yes Taylor I'm still going to Stanford, Troy got an offer from Berkley after the game last week. There is married accommodation available about halfway between them, so we can live together." Gabriella explained smiling.

Chad looked at Troy "I don't envy you telling Coach this mate. I don't know whether he'll be more upset about the wedding or about you not becoming a Red Hawk" He said, making the others laugh nervously.

"Yeah, but it has to be done and he'll come round eventually. I would have gone to Berkley anyway, I've been talking to them for a while now. The Berkeley scouts were at the game in the first place because I'd already approached them. I couldn't be so far away from Gabriella for so long if there was any alternative."

"Whipped" Chad complained smirking.

Taylor elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up. "I do still think that getting married may not be very sensible at our age. But I guess I can understand why you did it. I'll support you all I can. I'm glad you don't have to leave Gabriella. I'm sorry for arguing earlier. Forgive me?"

Gabriella left Troy's embrace to give Taylor a hug. "Thank you Taylor." She said.

"You still haven't explained how you managed to do all this without anyone finding out" Zeke said.

"And Gabriella had the consent form you found but how did you get your parents to allow this? Did you trick them into signing somehow?" Martha asked Troy.

"I didn't need to have consent. I turned eighteen a couple of weeks ago" Troy replied. "Once I found the consent form I googled marriage laws then went to the courthouse to apply for a marriage licence. Meeting Reverend Anderson and him offering to marry us in the chapel just sort of happened."

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13 for your support.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"You two do realise this is going to rock the school, even more than you getting together last year?" Martha asked. "You are going to face a lot of resistance, particularly from the girls who will be going to U of A next year."

"Why especially them?" asked Jason cluelessly.

"Well a lot of them had hopes of 'comforting' Troy after Gabriella moved away" explained Martha, using her fingers to make quotation marks.

"Well that's too bad, because Troy is permanently off the market." Gabriella stated with a grin wrapping her arms around her husband.

Everyone laughed.

"Are you going to tell everyone or try to keep it a secret?" Kelsi asked them. "You've done such a great job of keeping it quiet until now; none of us had any idea."

The others all nodded their heads in agreement. "Yeah, I actually thought you guys were having problems, not getting ready to make a lifelong commitment" said Ryan quietly.

Troy had thought over the summer that Ryan had been interested in being more than friendly with Gabriella but since Gabriella had made it clear to Troy that he was the only one for her he had made the effort to curb his jealousy and accept their friendship. Ryan and Gabriella had seemed to settle into a supportive big brother little sister type relationship. But now the quietness in Ryan's voice made him wonder.

"Are you okay man?" he asked quietly while the others laughed at Chad's impressions of how various people at school would react to their marriage. He gestured to Ryan to come help him collect more drinks.

Once they got away from the other's Troy asked "What's up? You seem down, is it..." his voice trailed off, not sure how to put what he was asking into words or even if he should try.

Ryan however was more observant than most people realised. While not academically very bright, he had spent a lot of time watching how people reacted to things and used the knowledge gained to improve his acting. So he had known over the summer that Troy had been a bit suspicious and jealous of his friendship with Gabriella, and now realised that his lack of enthusiasm for his friends had been taken the wrong way.

"It's not what you think Troy" he tried to reassure his friend. "I never wanted to be with Gabriella like that; I just want someone, anyone that I could like to like me like that. It gets a little lonely when almost all your friends are couples and you're always the odd one out"

"I'm sorry man, we never meant to make you feel like that." Troy said feeling guilty that his suspicions of Ryan's feelings towards Gabriella had prevented him from becoming better friends with him.

"I know and it's not your doing, well maybe it is. You and Gabriella are so much more together than any of the others, you really have something special. Most of us are envious of it at times, it's not like you mean to do it it's just so obvious that Gabriella is your whole world a lot of the time. All of us want someone who lights up our life like you and Gabriella do for each other." Ryan rambled trying to explain why he was jealous of Troy's relationship.

"Okay then but remember, that being my wife" Troy couldn't help but smile proudly as he said this "doesn't stop Gabriella from being as much your friend as she always was. Me too. At the risk of sounding like a girl, we're here if you need us."

"Thanks Troy" Ryan smiled genuinely, grateful that he and Troy had reached a better understanding of the situation.

They collected the jugs of soft drink and made their way back to the others.

As they arrived back at the table Taylor was talking about the Decathlon practice sessions that weekend. "I understand you're probably not going to want to come to practice at Jeremy's tomorrow morning, but you've made a commitment to the team I don't think that it's unreasonable to expect you to turn up for training tomorrow afternoon and Sunday" she stated.

Troy jumped in before Gabriella could reply, "No Taylor, Gabriella has been on decathlon teams right through high school, and with her memory she doesn't need more training. Tomorrow is the only day we will have to ourselves. Then on Sunday we have to tell both our parents that we're married. We'll both go back to our regular schedule on Monday but we are simply not available at all this weekend." His tone left no room for argument and Taylor backed down without saying anything else.

Gabriella looked around at the others, "That includes not answering our phones, we can't turn them off in case our parents call but we're not accepting calls or texts from anyone else, so please don't ring us" she requested firmly.

The meal came to an end, and just before Troy and Gabriella started to leave Chad stood up and demanded everyone's attention. As best man it's my job to organize the bachelor party which Troy sort of skipped out on by not giving us enough warning to have one" he turned to Gabriella "Gabs I don't suppose you'd let us have him next weekend for it?"

Gabriella laughed and shook her head.

"Okay the other part of my job as best man is to give a speech telling everyone all of Troy's embarrassing secrets"

Troy groaned and went to bang his head on the table as everyone laughed.

"I met Troy on our first day of kindergarten, we had this huge fight" Chad reminisced.

"Yeah, Cause you stole my lunch" Troy put in.

"Anyway we got sent to the corner together for the afternoon and have been best friends ever since. For most of his life Troy has had two main loves Basketball and his mother. Honestly he's always been the biggest mama's boy any of us has ever seen. You could never tell Troy anything that you didn't want his mom to know. Don't get me wrong Mrs B was the coolest mom around she never snitched to the other parents unless we were in serious trouble, she'd sit me down and talk to me, she'd then reward us with cookies when we saw things her way, it got so I was more afraid of upsetting Mrs B than I was my own mother." Troy and the boys looked sympathetic.

Anyway Troy was never interested in girls, some people thought that he might be gay but I knew the truth, it was just that no girl could ever hope to measure up to his Mama."

The Basketball team all nodded in agreement causing the girls to laugh.

"So there's no previous girlfriend to tease him about Gabs, I don't think he even kissed a girl other than you and his Mama. There was this one time Troy was dared to kiss a girl in the sixth grade but he sat there and said that he'd rather eat his own dirty socks than kiss Mandy Thomas and then proceeded to do just that. He cut them up with scissors and ate the whole pair of socks. Mandy ran home in tears and no girl would even talk to him for the rest of the year." The boys all laughed this time while the girls looked at Troy in horror.

"Anyway by junior year it was firmly established Troy did not date, he did not go to girls parties, he wouldn't even play truth or dare unless everyone promised him he wouldn't have to kiss anyone.

And he wasn't interested in anything but Basketball. I'm not sure he even knew East High had a Drama department or scholastic decathlon team. Before you came to East high Gabs Troy spent all his free periods and afternoons playing basketball or training for Basketball. He was the only person who attended every training session. Even when he hadn't been well enough to come to school that day, he came to Varsity training. And nearly put himself in the hospital doing so.

When Troy made the senior Varsity team at the start of freshman year, the other guys thought that coach was playing favourites and gave him a hard time. Troy challenged them each to a one on one game first to five points, and said that if more than half of them could beat him then he'd give up his spot on the team. He asked his Dad to referee and to choose the order so that he played the best players first. Coach made him stop and rest for a few minutes between each game and he beat every last one of them including the senior captain that was nearly twice Troy's size at the time. Coach then made the rest of the team run one hundred suicides for questioning his judgement and another hundred for getting their arses whooped by a freshman. Troy knew that they'd blame him for it, so even though he didn't have to he ran every one of those two hundred suicides too. He then collapsed in a heap and coach had to carry him in from the car when they got home.

When Gabriella started at East high and got Troy involved in singing and dancing at first I thought that it was the worst thing that could happen to him. I soon found out differently. I'm ashamed to admit I did my best to wreck his new friendship with Gabriella. I'm really sorry for doing that guys, I never realised how much it would hurt you both. The thing is once Troy had met Gabriella he totally forgot how to be happy without her.

Gabs owns not only Troy's heart but his soul as well. Anyone else getting married in high school I would have thought they were insane. But with Troy and Gabriella it just kinda makes a crazy sort of sense. Possibly because we've always known that Troy was insane but mostly because everyone who knows him knows that he just loves Gabriella that much. So raise you glasses to Troy and Gabriella as we wish them all the best. If anyone can make this work it's them. To Troy and Gabriella!"

"To Troy and Gabriella" the others chorused.

Taylor got up "I'm the maid of honour so I should say a few words too in the interests of equality."

The others chuckled quietly not wanting to get Taylor started on one of her famous rants.

"Obviously Gabriella and I don't have the history that Troy and Chad share but Gabriella has been my best friend for almost eleven months now. Yes she has only been at East High for eleven months and in that time she has changed everything I've always accepted about the social side of my high school life. She demolished the cliques and showed us all that we have more things in common than we do differences. And that life is better when we all work together. East high is a much friendlier and happier place because of her and her relationship with Troy.

I was astonished that this quiet nervous shy girl I met that first day had the courage to accomplish so much. But looking at them and at how she changed when she's with Troy it is clear that she draws strength from him and their love for each other. With Troy's support I firmly believe that Gabriella can achieve anything she sets her mind to.

I am ashamed to say that I also worked to separate Troy and Gabriella at first, and for what I must admit were selfish reasons. I wanted her to focus on the scholastic decathlon and I was afraid of losing my new friend. But Gabriella was miserable without Troy, and if they hadn't managed to fix their relationship I firmly believe it would have been a great tragedy. I apologise to Troy and the rest of the team for underestimating them. I was an intellectual snob that thought that jocks like Troy had nothing to offer our society. Troy I truly believe that you and Gabriella have both become far better people together than you ever could be without each other and I hope and pray that your life together is long and successful." Taylor sat down with tears in her eyes her apology to Troy was sincere and he smiled at her to let her know she'd long been forgiven for her actions and beliefs the year before.

Troy stood. "I believe it's normal at this time to thank you all for coming to our wedding" They all laughed as they'd not really been given a choice. "Seriously thanks for being there, for trusting us and handing over your phones so that we could tell you about the wedding and for not trying to stop us from doing what we knew was the right thing for us.

Thank you also to my beautiful wife for agreeing to marry me and making me the happiest man in the world. I could not imagine my life without you in it.

I would normally at this time thank the parents but..." He trailed off to more laughter before raising his glass.

"To my wonderful wife and to the best friends any man could have"

"To friendship"

Gabriella then stood up "Well if Taylor gave a speech then maybe I should too. I would like to thank Troy for coming up with this wonderful solution for what was a horrible situation. I want to assure all of you that I married Troy because I love him, not just to get out of marrying a stranger. If I thought that marrying Tory would harm him in any way I would not have agreed to this. But Chad and Taylor are right, Troy and I are better together than we could ever be apart. I thank you all for your friendship and support for myself and Troy in the last month. I know you were all worried about us and I'm sorry we could not confide in any of you earlier. I also thank Troy for the wedding today I had believed we were getting married at the registry office; to be married properly in such a beautiful ceremony was a wonderful surprise." She raised her glass "To Troy!"

"I also thank all of you for supporting us today. I know some of you have some doubts about our marriage, but you all came and supported us anyway. It means a great deal to us to know that we have friends like you"

Gabriella sat down and then Zeke stood up "I'm not making a speech but no wedding is complete without the cutting of the cake," He then opened the box he'd taken from the trunk of his car "I did wonder why on earth you would need me to bake you a cake today Troy, but this wasn't anywhere on my list of possible reasons I could have imagined" he said showing off the chocolate cake Troy had requested.

Troy and Gabriella cut the cake and fed each other the first pieces while Jason took photos.

Soon after this they handed everyone back their phones and said their goodbyes, with much teasing on the part of the others, and left telling them they'd see them at school on Monday. Troy had decided that the last thing he wanted to do after making love with Gabriella was to meet up with all their friends to return their phones and he thought after the way they'd all accepted his explanation and supported them that he could trust them not to call their parents.

A/N: Thankyou to iminlove13, kiara, wildcats2016, pumpkinking5, JERSEYLOVER54 and JPattermann for your support.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"What are we going to do tonight?" Chad asked the others, normally unless it was game night or there was a party on, they did something as a group on the Friday and left Saturday night for private couple time.

"We could see a movie, what's on?" replied Martha.

For once the boys got their choice of movie without negotiating as the girls said that Gabriella also wanted to see their choice and they wouldn't feel right going without her."

Jason laughed at this, "You think that hanging out without Troy and Gabriella is a once off?" he asked "Troy and Gabriella are going to be busy a lot; you're going to have to get used to them not being around."

"You're wrong, sure things will be slightly different, but they'll still be our friends." Kelsi replied defending the absent couple.

"Yeah! Hoops is still our captain. He and the Gabster will still hang with us." Chad agreed.

"Things will be different though." Said Taylor quietly

"I don't think it will be so different, Troy and Gabriella were so close already. Gabriella would almost always drop whatever she was doing any time Troy asked her to. But she's always found time for her friends too" Martha answered giving Taylor a reassuring smile.

"Yeah! Troy is the same. Gabriella has him totally Whipped" Chad grinned.

"It definitely goes both ways. Gabriella knows Troy will come running whenever she calls him, but she tries not to call when she knows he's with you guys. She understands that you are all important to Troy too. I don't think she will try to keep him away from you" Taylor said.

"Yeah! She was panicking this afternoon when she saw Troy standing outside by himself that you hadn't come and Troy had given up his friends for her" Kelsi added.

"He would have done it though, if we'd forced him to choose Troy would give up everything for Gabriella" Chad said thoughtfully.

"Yeah he would, but so would she. It's like they were born to be together." Martha said sighing.

Troy hid his truck inside the garage before letting Gabriella into the house. They stood in the entryway awkwardly unsure of what exactly to do now.

After a few minutes the silence got too much for Troy and he chuckled nervously "This is stupid right?" he said "We are never like this. What's wrong with us?"

"Yeah it's crazy, so what should we do now?" Gabriella asked nervously.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something for a while?" Troy offered.

"To be honest Troy I don't think I could concentrate on a movie." Gabriella replied.

"So do you want to go upstairs? I mean... I don't... We could just hang out and listen to music and talk if you'd like."

Gabriella smiled shyly and nodded. They walked into Troy's room and she sat on the edge of the bed. "I think we should talk about this Troy. We talk about everything else, we should have talked about this too. No secrets right?"

"Yeah" Gabriella looked at him expectantly so Troy took a deep breath then whispered "I want to make love to you, I've been dreaming of it for months and I always thought I would be exited when it was about to happen, but now... I'm scared Gabriella. I want this to be perfect for you and I've no idea how to do that. I know you're probably not ready and we don't have to ... I'm willing to wait. Being married doesn't have to change anything."

Gabriella smiled up at Troy leaning against his desk. "Troy you are the most wonderful man. I don't deserve you." She stood up and went over to give him a big hug. "Unfortunately you're wrong, we can't wait, my parents could annul the marriage if we don't..." she trailed off not able to continue out loud.

"Only if we tell them that we haven't..." Troy tried to reassure Gabriella.

Gabriella sighed "That might work for my mum but Papa is likely to demand proof."

"We still have a couple of weeks before he's likely to find out. We can take this slow... fool around a little and get more comfortable with being together" Troy offered.

"Troy do you really not want to do this tonight?" Gabriella asked slightly hurt by Troy's reluctant demeanour.

"Gabi I want you more than I can say. And we likely won't get time alone like this again. But we have until Sunday, pressuring yourself to have sex tonight whether you want to or not isn't going to help you relax and hopefully enjoy it. You can't even say the words without being uncomfortable, it's obvious you're not ready to do it. I want to make love not just to have sex and if we force ourselves into it tonight I'm worried that it won't be as special as it should be."

"I just want to get it over and done with."

"Gee thanks Gabriella. That really makes me feel good." Troy said sarcastically moving away from her and over to the window.

"I don't mean it like that Troy. I want to make love to you, and only you. I'm scared too Troy."

Troy came up behind Gabriella and wrapped his arms around her. "I know it's all happened too fast, but this is what we want right?"

Gabriella buried her face into his shirt. "Yes. It's what I want... it's just it suddenly feels real and I'm not sure I'm ready for it."

"I know Gabi, I know" Troy led Gabriella over to the bed and lay them both down. Gabriella tensed for a moment then relaxed as Troy just continued to hold her. They dozed for a while Troy waking first. Neither of them had actually eaten very much pizza and he was hungry. He went downstairs, made some sandwiches and got the chocolate covered strawberries he had made the night before and hidden in the back of the refrigerator.

He re-entered his room and sat on the edge of the bed watching his new wife sleep.

She soon stirred and turned to Troy with a smile.

"Hungry?" Troy asked lifting the basket onto the bed. "We have peanut butter and jelly and of course chocolate covered strawberries"

Gabriella smiled at her new husband, her heart filled with love. She appreciated how he had tried so hard to make their wedding day special. She resolved to try harder to relax and try to enjoy the evening. "Yeah sounds good, I'll be back in a minute.

Gabriella walked into the bathroom and returned a few minutes later scarlet with embarrassment with a small box in her hand. She held it out to Troy and said quietly "Troy these were on the side of the bathroom sink in plain sight. Did you leave them there?"

Troy read the label on the box. "What! No Gabriella I didn't buy these."

"You never bought condoms; I thought all teenage boys had condoms just in case they got lucky." She asked surprised.

Troy blushed "No I didn't keep condoms I knew we weren't ready for that. I swear I never thought of making love to you as getting lucky. You mean so much more to me than that."

"So you don't have any condoms hidden away? Then where did these come from?"

"I don't know, but I the doctor did give me a box when I went to see her to ask about the shot. She said that maybe we should be extra careful you know..."

"So these are yours. Did you forget to put them away? You're lucky your Mom didn't see them, they would have changed their minds about going away this weekend."

"No Gabi, I admit I have got a box of condoms but not those ones." He got up and pulled a different coloured box out of his gym bag to show her. "These are the ones I got from the doctor. Mom or Dad must have left those others in the bathroom for me."

Gabriella threw the box to the ground as if it had become scalding hot and covered her blushing face with her hands "You're parents think we are having sex?" she squeaked.

"I don't know, I certainly never told them that we were planning to have sex. I don't know why they bought me these all of a sudden." Troy told her earnestly.

Troy was pleased to see that Gabriella was calmer about the idea of his parents thinking they were having sex than she'd been when she freaked out last weekend. He wasn't concerned about the condoms though he didn't like the idea of his Mom thinking about him having sex. Besides it wasn't as if she was wrong and they'd be admitting to it on Sunday anyway. He took the box she was holding and put them both on his bedside table.

"It doesn't matter Gabriella, they're going to know when we tell them about the wedding."

Gabriella took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "You're right Troy" she said. "Let's eat dinner." She climbed onto the bed and sat with her legs crossed reaching into the basket.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5 and iminlove13 for your support.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

They ate in companionable silence before Troy got up and connected his ipod to the speakers and selected the playlist for Gabriella's favourite songs. Gabriella looked up as the music started. "Would you like to dance?" Troy asked almost shyly.

"Dance?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"Well we are dressed for it." Troy replied "And it is what people do at weddings. I just thought..."

Gabriella smiled, Tory had tried so hard to give her all the romance of a traditional wedding. She moved closer reached for him. "You are so crazy Wildcat"

Troy took her in his arms and they danced circling slowly in the small space available.

"You look so incredibly beautiful." Troy said some time later as their steps slowed and their bodies moved closer together.

"You look great in your suit too, very handsome"

Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella. Letting his eyes drift shut, Troy succumbed to the kiss, pressing himself against Gabriella, desire throbbing almost painfully in his groin. She released a sharp breath from her nose and arched against him, their bodies aligning, her mouth opening against his. The first taste was bliss, and as the kiss deepened, Troy wrapped an arm securely around Gabriella and stroked the length of her back.

Troy fell back to sit on the edge of the bed pulling Gabriella closer and she surprised him by sitting in his lap, straddling him. Gabriella's wedding dress was pushed aside by her position, revealing a good part of her legs. Without realizing what he was doing Troy shifted his hands, which were resting on Gabriella's hips, and started to caress her perfect legs. Gabriella moaned softly and moved even closer.

Troy could feel Gabriella's groin pressing against his and that was his undoing. He felt his already rock hard cock twitch and he was sure Gabriella could feel his arousal. Gabriella broke the kiss and smiled shyly. Yes, she had definitely felt Troy's physical reaction. The young woman slowly reached behind herself and unzipped her dress, she stood for a moment letting it fall to the floor before returning to her position astride his lap.

Gabriella gave Troy a short and gentle kiss and then started to trace the muscles of his chest with her tender hands. Gabriella followed her hands' movements with her eyes, looking amazed. Troy had muscles in all the right places. Troy's breath quickened both due to Gabriella's gentle caresses and her obvious approval of his body. Troy had never been vain, but that Gabriella of all girls found him attractive was an immense turn-on for him. Troy couldn't help but moan when Gabriella undid the zipper of his trousers and her hand brushed over his groin briefly.

She was wearing a pale blue lace set of bra and panties that matched her dress. The material was so thin that it was nearly transparent and the bra was very low cut. Troy's heart was racing and he had to remind himself to keep breathing. Within seconds he was harder than he had ever been before.

Gabriella blushed when she saw Troy staring at her. "Do you like what you see?" The question was probably meant to sound seductive, but it came out a little insecure.

"I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life" Troy replied huskily. "Can... Can I see all of you?"

Gabriella blushed even more and shyly nodded.

Troy fumbled the clasp of her bra for a minute before asking her to turn around so he could see what he was doing.

She hesitated for a moment then turned showing him what she considered to be her greatest flaw – her bum. If she had asked Troy he would have fervently disagreed. He thought she had the perfect bottom. In fact looking at such perfection drove all thought right out of his head and instead of unclasping her bra, he slowly slid his hands to the waistband of her pale blue panties and even more slowly slid them down her legs.

They were both shaking with nervousness at this stage and Troy drew Gabriella into a gentle hug. "It's okay Gabi, there's no need to be so scared. It's just me and you, we'll work it out together, I promise.

The familiar friendly hug calmed Gabriella more than his words. This was Troy the one friend she shared everything with, He was right together they could do this. She ran her hands down his back trying to turn their hug back to a more sensual embrace.

Realizing that he still had his trousers hanging undone off his hips she pushed them down taking his boxers with them. Troy quickly kicked them off before they could trip him up and pulled Gabriella back into his arms.

Gabriella not wanting to deal with the awkwardness of Tory fumbling with the bra fastening, reached behind her and quickly undid the clasp.

Troy smiled gratefully and drew it down her arms and away from her body leaving them both totally nude.

Knowing that Gabriella wouldn't be comfortable with him seeing her like that yet, Troy did his best to resist the urge to step back and look at her, and instead he pulled her close enjoying the feel of her skin against his without barriers for the first time.

Gabriella felt a thrill run through her at the feel of her bare breasts brushing Troy's skin before being crushed by his hard warm chest.

They continued to kiss until they were both breathless. As she pulled away gasping for breath Troy began kissing her neck, slowly moving downwards until his lips found her right nipple.

Gabriella gasped at the sensation of Troy gently sucking her and grabbed his head with both hands holding him there when he went to move away. The feelings in the pit of her stomach intensified, and she let out a low moan. She released her grasp on Troy's hair and brought her hands up to cover her face embarrassed by the sound.

"Oh, god, Gabi, I want to… want to be in you…" Troy panted, releasing her breast and kissing her fiercely, turned on to the point where he could no longer think of anything else much less worry about Gabriella being ready to take this step. Luckily Gabriella was also overcome by desire.

Instead of speaking, Gabriella picked up the little foil package, her hand shaking ever so slightly as she handed it to him. Troy took the package from her tearing it open, his hand almost shaking as much as hers and awkwardly slid the condom onto his length.

"Are you umm…" Troy wasn't sure how to phrase his question, so instead brought his hand down to gently touch her core. She gasped involuntarily, shuddering slightly. Understanding what he was trying to ask, she nodded. "I'm ready."

Gabriella rolled onto her back and urged Troy on top of her. His weight was delicious, as was the feel of his cock pressing against her, begging to enter her temple and worship her.

Troy adjusted his hips, both of them gasping when the tip of his cock pressed gently against her folds and slipped forward in the wetness, threatening to take her virginity.

Gabriella widened her legs and bent her knees as Troy's hand snaked between their heated bodies to position his cock. She took a deep breath as he pushed, wincing at the sharp initial pain. Her eyes pricked with tears involuntarily, overwhelmed with a tearing pain beyond anything she could have anticipated. Nothing she'd read prepared her for the burning stretching which was more than she could hide.

The moment their bodies connected Troy was met by an overload of sensations, he felt immense pleasure. Then he opened his eyes and looked down at the girl he loved seeing her eyes squeezed shut in pain with tears falling down her face.

He had hurt Gabriella!

Troy immediately forgot his pleasure, Gabriella was the only thing that mattered. Her eyes were tightly shut and she was breathing heavily.

"Gabriella? Oh God Gabi I'm sorry. Do you want me to stop?" He began to withdraw his now softening penis from her entrance.

"I think we just should keep going." She suggested blushing.

"Are you sure? Are you really okay?

"Troy I'm fine, please if we don't continue now it will be even more difficult next time." Troy looked down at Gabriella uncertainly and saw love and determination as well as fear in her eyes. He knew she was right, if they stopped now they may not have the courage to try again tomorrow. It would be best to have their first time behind them and then he would be able to wait until she was ready to try again.

"Troy please" she repeated.

"Okay Baby" he agreed, "I just need a minute.." he trailed off embarrassed.

"What's the matter Troy?" Gabriella asked, her pain forgotten in her concern.

Troy's already scarlet face bushed even hotter and he shook his head and looked away.

Gabriella placed her hand on his cheek and turned him back to face her "What is it Troy? Please talk to me."

Troy began to stammer "I just can't... when I hurt you... it just... it'll be okay... just ... please..."

"What's wrong Troy? You're not making sense. What are you trying to say?"

"I'm scared. I don't know if I can do this." He whispered "I hurt you"

"Shh Troy it's okay. We both knew it would hurt the first time. The worst is over. It won't hurt that much next time" Gabriella tried to reassure him. She reached down to realign him with her entrance and realized what troy had been unable to tell her.

"Oh!" she said uncertainly, "you really don't want to do this." She started to cry.

"Gabi Baby. Please don't cry."

"What's wrong with me? Why don't you want me?" she sobbed.

"I do want you. Gabriella I want you more than anything I've ever wanted before. I need you."

"No you don't you're not even turned on."

"You are so wrong about that Gabi. I didn't even know it was possible to be that hard."

"Then what happened? What did I do wrong?" Gabriella asked wanting to believe him.

"You didn't do anything wrong Love. It's just, you were hurting and I couldn't bear it."

"Oh Troy." She pulled his head down and kissed him tenderly.

"What do we do now then?" She panted when they at last needed to stop to breathe.

Troy laughed and gave Gabriella a long, loving kiss before he began to push his reawakened erection into her as gently as possible.

Even with just the tip of his length inside of her without movement taking place, he had reached a point of being almost incoherent.

"Do you want me to do it slow or…"

"Just… get this bit over with," Gabriella murmured.

Troy didn't move until Gabriella pressed up with her hips, and a moment later he was fully inside of her, stretching her like no man ever had. He swallowed, wishing he could reach down and tug on his balls to hold back his orgasm, but at the same time not wanting to.

Simultaneously, Troy let out a ragged moan; whereas Gabriella let out a cry and a whimper. No the sort of cry or whimper that he wanted to hear.

He stopped, not just to give her a moment to adjust, but also for a much needed moment of reflection. It was overwhelming.

Not only was he filled with indescribable physical sensations, but he was overwhelmed by the connection he felt to this amazing woman at that moment in time, more connected than he had ever felt to anyone. He was overwhelmed with sensation and heat and pleasure… and love.

Gabriella was clutching to his shoulders, taking slow laboured breaths in an attempt deal with the pain.

However what was stopping her from asking Troy to stop, was that she felt connected to on a far higher and far more significant level. The closeness to Troy that she'd never felt to anyone before.

Troy and Gabriella ceased to exist as individual entities. The line between where she finished and he began had washed away. In that moment in time, neither could comprehend existing any other way.

"I'm okay now… you can move," Gabriella said quietly. Troy still could see the pain reflected in her eyes and he tenderly kissed her lips.

"I'm sorry, Gabi. It'll only hurt this time," he whispered in a ragged breath, kissing her ear tenderly. He kissed the corner of her lips lovingly before he kissed her long and lingeringly, with all the aching tenderness in his heart. Troy started rocking gently, trying to keep his thrusts slow and steady to give Gabriella time to get used to the feeling. Being inside her felt incredible and it took all his willpower to keep a slow rhythm. She pressed her lips softly against his, causing him to kiss her fervently in return.

His pleasure began to build, though much too soon for Troy's tastes. He didn't want to disappoint Gabriella during her first time, even though he knew that first-time sex was never supposed to be all that good, but for the moment he didn't know why such a thought had ever been uttered. Having Gabriella beneath him was almost completely overwhelming, the tightness of her surrounding his cock threatening to push him over the edge…

"I umm… I don't think I'm going to last long," Troy murmured apologetically,

"Troy, please… I love you, Let it go, baby, don't hold back. Just go with it." Gabriella murmured breathily, urging her hips up to meet with his, before lifting both her legs and wrapping her slim thighs tightly around his hips, his cock sinking impossibly deeper within her silken depths.

Not able to hold on much longer, Troy snapped his hips against Gabriella's harder than before, increasing both pace and force, before grinding his teeth in the unsuccessful hope of stifling his moans as he reached his climax.

"Oh fuck… God…. Gabi…. Love you…. Love you…" His words came in a mumbled, groaned stammer. He wanted to convey to her just how incredible she was making him feel, he wanted to convey the depth of just how much he loved her within that moment of time. There were no words, no amount of name chanting or expletive shouting would be able to capture the essence of that moment of time.

Knowing she hadn't come yet, Troy continued to attempt thrust in and out of her, despite his fatigue and satiation, though he almost whined in disappointment when his rapidly shrinking cock slipped out of her with a rather unappealing squelch.

Troy removed the condom and discarded it in the bin he'd left beside the bed. He then turned back to nestle beside her, the soft music from the speakers and Troy's evening out breaths the predominant sounds that filled the cool night air. His hand lovingly ran over her body as he nestled into the crook of her neck to press a soft kiss.

"Fuck! I'm sorry Baby" Troy cursed softly seeing her expression. In the dim, light Troy could see she had scrunched her eyes shut in pain. A pang of guilt shot Troy rather harshly in the chest, and he felt dreadful for being a typically bad first-time lover, in that he hadn't even lasted long enough for her to climax too.

"Ssshhh why are you sorry?" Gabriella murmured, opening her eyes and reaching out to stroke her fingers against his cheek.

"Because you didn't… I didn't… it wasn't good for you?" Troy stammered sadly.

"It's okay, I didn't expect it to hurt quite that much. It wasn't your fault" Gabriella insisted softly, pressing her lips to his and kissing him passionately. "I love you." Gabriella had to admit that she was a little disappointed with the physical side of things but the feeling of contentment and love and power that came with the knowledge of what they had just done was more important than a few short seconds of pleasure.

"It does matter," Troy insisted. He pressed his lips to hers softly, initiating a slow, soft kiss, just the way he knew she liked it. Troy inched his hand south and gently massaged her clit. However, as Troy's finger dipped into Gabriella's utterly soaking sex, inspiration struck and he remembered what he'd read up about the best way to pleasure a woman. He was nervous and unsure if he really wanted to try this even though he'd liked the second hand taste that day in the tree house, but he pushed his nerves aside as pleasing Gabriella was far more important than his own insecurities. Rolling over her, his thighs still trembling from satiation and exertion, Troy kissed Gabriella's lips gently before scooting his way down her body until his face was between her legs.

As soon as Gabriella realised just exactly what Troy had in mind she protested, trying to close her legs, but she was too slow and Troy was already in the way.

"Gabriella Baby, I… please let me try this. If you don't like it, I'll stop, I promise," Troy whispered urgently, his voice a croak as a result of his nerves. He looked into her eyes praying to find acceptance.

Gabriella almost gulped with nerves her eyes wide with fear and uncertainty, but Troy felt the muscles in her thighs relax, cradling him gently now that she had apparently accepted him and his intentions. With a nervous swallow of his own Troy used his fingers to smooth her damp curls aside, though in the dim light he wasn't able to see much. With a hint of both excitement and a little trepidation, Troy leant in and licked Gabriella's wet, glistening lower lips. Relaxing, Troy licked her again, smiling slightly when Gabriella gasped a little. Troy's tongue had found her clitoris and he was now licking her slowly and thoroughly.

"Oh! Oh, Troy!" she gasped, loving the way he was making her feel. It was completely different than using a finger, softer and warmer and just... hotter. Gabriella relished the feelings he was awakening in her. She felt strangely beautiful and sexy and he was making her feel things she had only read about in books.

Gaining confidence, Troy thrust his tongue into Gabriella's hot channel glad that having used a condom meant that the only things he had to taste was Gabriella.

"Troy, oh, yes," Gabriella murmured over and over again, urging him on as her hands clenched in his hair, holding him in place, and her hips were lifting and meeting his licks, and she even squealed softly when he sucked gently on her clitoris. Troy ignored the pain as her fingers got caught in a strand of hair, being completely focused on bringing Gabriella over the edge. He could tell that she was getting close, because her movements became more erratic and her soft, quite murmurs of pleasure had turned into an incoherent babble. Troy moaned at her reactions, realising that his cock had hardened again. He continued to lick and suck while grinding his hips against the firm surface of his mattress.

"Relax, love, and just let it wash over you," he whispered gently.

His tongue came back on her and that was all it took for her to get over the edge. She screamed his name as she came, her lower back lifting from the bed in ecstasy.

Troy pulled back to take a much needed breath and Gabriella's hands urged Troy up, kissing him deeply and hungrily, shocking Troy because he wouldn't have expected Gabriella to be so eager about tasting herself on his tongue. But she was, and her tongue was playful in his mouth, and somehow (Troy wasn't quite sure how) his cock founds its way between Gabriella's legs and was pressing against her, begging for entrance.

Gabriella moaned deeply before leaning back to smile at him. "Yes, again…" she whispered breathily, inching her hips up, and the head of Troy's cock slipped back into the slick, delightfully hot passage.

"Wait Gabi" he moaned withdrawing. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes Troy I'm sure." Gabriella arched her hips again trying to take him back inside her groaning as he moved away.

Troy reached over and grabbed another packet of the bedside table tearing it open with his teeth and hurriedly rolling the condom into place.

Gabriella cringed in pain a bit when he thrust himself fully inside, but she smiled again to let him know that it was okay.

This time, Troy made certain that Gabriella climaxed, at least before he did. He used his fingers to rub her clit and repositioned his hips until his angle had her gasping. His arousal wasn't as urgent this time, though that was not to say that he wasn't incredibly horny. Concentrating so heavily on his wife, Troy felt it the moment Gabriella's orgasm began as he could feel her inner muscles contract rhythmically around him as she cried out his name. That was his undoing. Troy bent his head and kissed her one last desperate time, and then he drove into her one last time. "Gaabbeee" Troy moaned as he came harder than ever before.

"Gabriella… that was… oh my God I love you

Troy collapsed on top of Gabriella, spent from his amazing orgasm. He could feel Gabriella stroking his hair and caressing his back as he came down from his high. Troy closed his eyes and enjoyed being held.

After what felt like forever Troy looked up and caressed Gabriella's cheek. He leaned forward and kissed her lovingly before rolling them over so Gabriella wasn't being crushed.

Troy gazed at his girlfriend, his lover, his soul mate – with a stare of pure and simple love. Hair mussed up, skin slightly sticky and sweaty, cheeks flushed, smudged make up – she was perfect.

"Thank you," Gabriella said quietly.

Troy pressed a tender kiss to her shoulder. "Thank you."

"Are you okay?" Troy murmured beside her ear from behind. "Can I get you anything? Do you want a cloth to clean up? Or I could run a bath for you if you like?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just… hold me."

"I love you Gabi" He said sleepily before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

"Love you too Baby" she replied softly threading her fingers through his now sweaty hair. She lay there awake for awhile perfectly content, before falling asleep.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara and Pumpkinking5 for your support.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

December 7th Saturday

Morning after

Troy woke at five the next morning, as he had become accustomed to rising at that time to sneak back home before his father woke up. He opened his eyes surprised for a moment to see his own room. The memories of yesterday came flooding back. He tightened his arms around Gabriella and luxuriated in the feel of being able to lie there holding her instead of having to rush away. Smiling he drifted back to sleep.

Troy was woken up the second time by bright sunlight illuminating the room. The first thing he noticed was that he had slept better than he had in a long time. The second thing he noticed was his prominent erection which was currently poking to Gabriella, who was still lying naked in his arms.

Troy's and Gabriella's limbs had entangled during their sleep and her thigh was now resting between his legs, pressing against his groin. Troy tried to free himself out of Gabriella's embrace without waking her, but the motion only caused more friction. Troy couldn't help but moan at the sweet torture. The sound caused Gabriella to stir and slowly open her eyes.

"Morning." Gabriella said sleepily. She stretched and accidently brushed over Troy's erection again, causing another deep moan. Gabriella blushed and looked surprised when she sensed Troy's reaction.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it." Troy apologized sheepishly.

"It's okay, Troy, it's a natural reaction." Gabriella reassured him.

Troy still looked ashamed by his reaction and Gabriella tried to calm him by leaning forward and stroking his cheek. "It's really okay." she said again, sounding a little breathless.

Their faces were so near that Troy could feel her breath on his lips. Troy's heart started beating faster and his lips involuntarily parted.

Troy didn't know who had made the first move, but a moment later their lips touched and the new Mr and Mrs Bolton shared a passionate kiss.

"I'm just sorry that I'm a little too sore to make use of it" she said on breaking the kiss. She immediately regretted her words when she saw the expression of worry and self hatred that crossed Troy's face.

"Troy stop; it's okay. It's not that bad and it wasn't your fault. You did all you could to avoid hurting me. Don't you dare regret making love to me" Gabriella said firmly.

"No I don't regret it. I'm glad we made love. I just hate having hurt you. As wonderful as it felt it wasn't worth you being hurt like that."

"Yes it was worth it, I won't lie to you Troy, it hurt like hell. But it was more than just that, a lot more. Please tell me that you understand that," Gabriella said beseechingly.

"I do understand that," Troy agreed softly. He wrapped his arms around her in a friendly type hug. "I just… I guess I had this unrealistic hope that maybe we could skip the whole first time being painful and stuff. What I felt… oh fuck Gabriella, I can't begin to describe it to you." His starry-eyed expression was enough to explain it. "I know you felt that deeper emotional connection too. But on that simpler level of… of just how it felt, physically… I want to make you to feel that."

"You did the second time," Gabriella reminded him earnestly and encouragingly. "All we can do is to keep trying."

"God I love you," Troy said huskily, lips crashing down to meet hers.

They kissed passionately for some time, hands wandering before Troy pulled away. "If you're serious about being too sore then we had better stop now" he said blushing.

Gabriella sighed, "I wish I wasn't but..."

Troy gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek then got out of bed pulling on a pair of shorts. "Do you want the shower first?"

Gabriella blushed "No... I... you go first."

Troy looked at her questioningly "Gabi?"

"It's nothing..." Troy continued to look at his wife "It's stupid" she muttered.

"Gabi, what is it Baby. You can talk to me." He walked back to the bed and sat on the side holding Gabriella's hands.

"It's just awkward you know..."

"Gabi?" Troy asked again, concerned. "Please Baby. What's awkward? What can I do to help? Is there something I should have done differently?"

"Can you get me a shirt to put on?" she asked avoiding his eyes.

Troy handed her one of his wildcat shirts, and then changing his mind, took it back and pulled it over her head. "Better?" he asked smiling at her softly.

"It's silly I know..." Gabriella said blushing.

He pulled her into a gentle hug "No Gabriella it's fine, it's going to take some time for us to get comfortable with all this. It will get easier I promise." Troy got up and walked across to the door As he walked out he turned back and grinned and winked at her exaggeratedly. "You look great in my shirt Gabriella, but to be honest I've never seen anything as beautiful as you looked last night."

Gabriella blushed and pulled the sheet up over her head groaning at him, hiding a small satisfied smile.

After they both had showered and dressed they went downstairs where Troy made them both toast and cereal apologetically admitting to a laughing Gabriella that this was the limit of his cooking skills. After eating (and Gabriella cleaning up the kitchen) they sat awkwardly trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day.

"This is stupid", Troy exclaimed impatient with himself "we've spent lots of Saturdays together, and it's never been like this. Just because we got married shouldn't prevent us from enjoying spending time together."

Gabriella nodded and asked "What would you have done this morning if we hadn't got married?"

Troy thought for a moment, "I would have gone running with dad and played a little one-on-one with him before having breakfast with him and Mom and then if I didn't have plans with you I might have played more Basketball with Chad and the guys later if they came around, or I might have played the Xbox or if Mom insisted done some homework. What about you?"

"I would have done my homework for the weekend and cleaned my room, then maybe gone grocery shopping with mum or spent some time with Taylor or Kelsi" she replied.

Troy nodded, "I don't think I could sit still and relax, I need to get outside and burn some energy. We could maybe go out somewhere for the day. Perhaps go to the zoo or the Aquarium or just walk in the botanical gardens." He deliberately didn't mention bowling, minigolf or any other activity that could become competitive not wanting to risk their easy going feelings today.

Gabriella thought for a moment, she felt a little sore and if entirely up to her would rather just stay on the couch for the day but understanding that Troy normally ran several miles per day and that his body felt out of sorts without exercising. He refused to go out for a run without her and she knew he would become increasingly jittery and agitated if he didn't burn off some of his excess energy. She knew she wasn't fit enough to run with him even if she had felt perfectly fit so the park seemed to be a good compromise. "That would be perfect, we're not likely to see anyone we know there. Do you want to take a picnic?"

"Yeah sounds good." Troy quickly made them some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while Gabriella packed drinks and snacks into the basket, sneaking in a towel and change of clothing for Troy in the hope that she could convince him to run later while she lay in the sun.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and iminlove13 for your support.


	34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of High School Musical other than a copy of the DVDs, or of Troy and Gabriella. Anything in this story that you reconise from elswhere is not mine.

Chapter 34

They arrived at the botanical gardens surrounding the aquarium about eleven o'clock and slowly walked through the gardens looking for the perfect spot to set up their picnic. Finally they found a semi-secluded spot, hopefully not isolated enough for Troy to feel uncomfortable leaving Gabriella alone for a short time but private enough to exchange a few kisses without attracting unwanted attention. After setting up Gabriella sat down on the blanket and pulled out a book causing Troy's face to fall.

Gabriella laughed, "Why don't you go for a run while I sit here and read for a bit" she said.

Troy started to protest.

"Troy, I understand that you didn't want leave me to go out running on your own this morning, but I know you will feel better after some exercise. I packed a change of clothes for you so you don't have to worry about getting sweaty. I'll sit here and read while you run around the park" Gabriella offered smiling at him.

"Are you sure? I don't want to abandon you. Especially today." He asked concerned.

"I'll be fine sitting here in the sun Troy, and you're not abandoning me, if you run down that way and along the river I could even watch you from here" she encouraged him.

"Well okay then I won't be long" he said slightly uncertainly.

He set off, and Gabriella watched for a moment before picking up her book and losing herself in the world of Edward and Bella and Jacob.

Troy ran as quickly as he could, trying to get in the maximum amount of exercise with the minimum time away from Gabriella. As he ran his mind started to calm down 'Gabriella was right' he thought 'I did need this. She knows me so well' he smiled to himself.

Thinking back over the wedding the day before and the night that followed it Troy had only one regret, that he'd hurt Gabriella. Even now he knew she was hurting though she tried to hide it. The thought of having caused her pain weighed heavily on his heart. He ran even faster trying to outrun his thoughts.

Troy arrived back at the picnic blanket not just slightly sweaty as if he'd been jogging as Gabriella had expected and planned for but absolutely drenched in sweat.

"I don't think a towel off and change of clothes is going to cut it Troy you desperately need a shower." She laughed up at him pushing him away as he tried to kiss her.

Troy laughed too. "Or a dip in the lake. Come on" he pulled her to her feet and picking up the rug and picnic basket lead her into the shrubbery surrounding the lake trying to find a place concealed enough to strip off. Luckily the lake was huge and the edges were uneven after about fifteen minutes of pushing their way through increasingly dense trees and undergrowth they came to a small cove, where he could swim without being seen by anyone around the shore.

"Join me?" Troy asked. Dropping the picnic basket and rug he pulled off his shirt and started to remove his shorts.

"Troy! What are you doing? You can't..." Gabriella exclaimed in shock.

Troy grinned "Shh it's okay Gabriella no one can see us here. And we would hear if anyone was coming. You don't have to come in if you don't want to but I need a bath you said so yourself, and short of going home this is the only option." He toed of his shoes and socks and stepped out of his shorts and boxers.

Standing there before her in all his glory he took her hand. "I know you're still sore and that you don't want to have sex here in a public park in broad daylight. I promise I won't try to start anything if you come in swimming with me but it's okay if you don't want to."

"He bent and picked up the picnic rug "do you want me to lay this over in the sun for you to sit on or hold it up for you to undress." He asked with a wicked grin.

Gabriella swallowed hard. While part of her wanted to join Troy she remembered how self conscious she had felt that morning with her breasts exposed and knew that she wasn't ready to do this. She quickly searched for an excuse "It's December Troy that water will be freezing."

"Then we'll just have to snuggle up to get warm again" he teased.

"Troy..."

"I know I promised I wouldn't start anything but that doesn't mean you can't" he said with a grin.

"Troy..."

"I'm sorry" he went to give her a hug but she quickly backed away

"No Troy you stink" she reminded him laughingly.

"Sorry" he turned and spread the blanket out in the sun before jumping into the water. He came up gasping and quickly made his way to the shore shivering. Gabriella got the towel out of the basket and held it out to him. He quickly dried and dressed before picking up the picnic blanket and wrapping it around himself. "Can I have a hug now?" he asked hesitantly.

"You're so crazy wildcat" Gabriella smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He opened the blanket and wrapped it around her as well "You weren't wrong about it being freezing" he admitted still shaking with cold.

"Oh my Gosh Troy! We have to get you home and in to a warm bath." She started to pull him up towards the car park.

"No just sit here in the sun with me for a while" he said sitting on a rock and pulling her onto his lap.

"I can't believe you did that, you could have been seen." She exclaimed hugging him tightly as he slowly stopped shivering.

"There's no paths near here and it's not like I went into the lake itself someone would have to be almost exactly on the opposite side of the lake with binoculars to really see anything" Troy reassured her.

"You've done this before?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah Chad and I did this one time the summer when we were twelve, though we did leave our underwear on. I haven't been back here since then and as far as I know Chad hasn't either as we discovered that day it really is too far from home on our bicycles" Troy answered laughing at the memory.

Gabriella laughed "Well you are just lucky that I didn't think to take your photo, stripping off in public like that."

Troy laughed nervously "You wouldn't would you?" he asked nervously.

"Not without your permission Troy" she reassured him.

"Oh Okay." He thought about it for a moment then said shyly "I wouldn't mind you having a photo like that if you could guarantee that nobody else will ever see it but..." he trailed off not knowing how to express what he wanted to say without implying that he didn't trust her. It was their friends' nosiness he wasn't sure he could trust.

Gabriella smiled "I agree it's not worth the risk" she said knowing exactly what he was thinking.

They sat there quietly talking about their friends reactions when they'd told them about the wedding.

Chad wasn't as angry as I thought he'd be" Troy said.

"Yeah! His speech was really funny" Gabriella laughed. "Did you want me to let him throw you a bachelor party?" she asked curiously "because if you wanted one I wouldn't mind."

Troy shook his head decisively, "No I'm glad you told him he couldn't. Please don't encourage him. I'm a little afraid of what he would do."

"Still it was good of him to offer" Gabriella said.

"You know Chad, any excuse for a wild party, and this wouldn't have Taylor there to keep him in line" Troy replied.

"Still declaring himself best man at our wedding is a fairly strong statement of support" Gabriella reminded him.

"Yeah! What about your friends? Taylor seemed uptight at dinner."

"Taylor was really upset with the whole idea, Martha was trying to mediate between us I don't know how she was really feeling, and Kelsi didn't say anything at all she just calmly helped me with my dress and hair she didn't even seem all that surprised." Gabriella told him.

"Why was Taylor so upset? I thought she liked me" Troy asked slightly surprised and hurt.

"She does like you Troy. It wasn't about you, Taylor doesn't really believe in serious relationships in high school. She was worried that I would give up my place at Stanford to go to U of A with you, or even end up dropping out of college entirely. She believes that boys are a risk to a girl's future and definitely not to be taken seriously until you've met your career goals" Gabriella explained.

"Why would she think you would drop out? Doesn't she know you'd never do that? I would never want you to drop out of school." Troy asked offended that Gabriella's best friend would think so poorly of him.

"Yeah I know Troy but the statistics show that most girls who marry straight out of high school don't end up finishing college."

Troy frowned "Why not?" he asked, hoping that being more aware of the potential problem would help them to avoid it.

"Partly financial problems when their parents don't support them after they get married and partly because married teenagers are more likely to fall pregnant, or to have got married in the first place because there's a baby already on the way" she replied.

"Oh okay. Well we just have to be very careful that doesn't happen then." He sat for a moment contemplating then turned Gabriella's face so he could look into her eyes. "Gabi..." he said seriously "You know how I offered to wait until you were ready to have sex, and you said that we had to do it straight away so that our marriage couldn't be cancelled?" Gabriella nodded wondering why he was asking. "I did mean it, you know, and now that we've done it once so the marriage can't be annulled we could wait until you feel ready to do it again" he offered.

Gabriella didn't know how to react to that. Part of her mind was relieved at the thought of not having to worry about a teenage pregnancy, part of her was touched that Troy could be so thoughtful and patient with her and a small part was hurt at the thought that Troy was rejecting her body and insecure that maybe she'd done something wrong either the night before or that morning.

"Don't you want to? Did I do something wrong?" She asked in a small voice.

"Oh No Gabi" he said hugging her tighter. "Making love to you was perfect, better than I'd ever imagined it would be. I didn't mean that I don't want to keep having sex. I just wanted you to know that we didn't have to if you didn't want to. I know that if we hadn't got married we would probably not have been ready to do it for a long time yet."

Troy was almost babbling in his rush to reassure Gabriella and undo any hurt he had inadvertently caused her with his offer. "I love you Gabi, I only want you to be happy, so I'll let you set the pace of how far you want to go. Making love has to be something that we both want otherwise it's just sex, and I don't ever want to have just sex with you."

"I love you too Troy. Will you be upset if I decide that I don't want to have sex for a while?" she asked not want him to feel she was rejecting him.

"No, I know that it hurt last night and wasn't so great for you. As long as you still want to be with me then I'll be okay with it" Troy said hugging her gently.

"I love you Troy and I definitely want to spend the rest of my life with you." She said kissing him deeply.

They abandoned the discussion in favour of making out, each wanting to reassure the other that they did in fact turn them on even if they didn't plan to do anything about it at present. Gabriella was pleased to feel Troy's erection pushing in to her leg, but also relieved that Troy didn't do anything deliberate to bring it to her attention or encourage her to do anything about it. Troy was just happy that she didn't freak out and jump away from him when she noticed that he was aroused like she would have done a few weeks earlier.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, iminlove13, jan14 and reachingforthestars20 for your support.

For those that notice I've reposted Chapter one I've just added a disclaimer not changed the actual chapter in any way.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of High School Musical

They stayed there by that hidden river mouth until the sun started to go down and they both became aware of the chill in the breeze. Heading back to the car hand in hand in comfortable silence they were both happy with the way that their first day as a married couple had gone.

They debated the merits of going out for dinner or getting takeaway. They both enjoyed going out together but in the end decided that they didn't want to risk running into anyone they knew or having to make conversation with anyone, and the privacy of an empty house would be better for the conversation that they still needed to have that day. Stopping for Indian takeaway they made their way home.

After finishing dinner and cleaning up they sat on the couch planning to watch movies. Gabriella reached over and turned off the movie. "Troy" she said hesitantly "I've been thinking it over and you're right I'm not really ready to have sex yet."

Troy looked at her and forced a smile to hide his disappointment "I know Baby It's okay we can wait. Are you happy to continue sleeping in my bed or would you like to stay in the guest room?" He held his breath desperately hoping she would stay with him.

"What? Of course I want to stay with you we've been sleeping in the same bed for weeks and I sleep better when you're there. I trust you Troy. I know you will never deliberately grope me while I'm asleep and if it happens accidentally then that's okay. But will you be alright waking up like you did this morning every day?" she blushed remembering his erection digging into her naked thigh. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Gabriella you don't need to be in my bed to cause that." Troy laughed self-consciously.

Gabriella blushed, "I know, but seriously are you alright with knowing that when we make out you will get turned on and I won't follow through so to speak?"

"Gabriella it's okay, I was turned on this afternoon and you didn't feel pressured to do anything you weren't comfortable with did you? I enjoyed making out with you today it was great." He said grinning at the memory.

"So it's okay if I feel your erection and just ignore it or would you prefer me to stop teasing you like that?" Gabriella asked feeling insecure.

Troy took a deep breath his face turning red. "It's a little humiliating to admit this a out loud" he whispered "but you turn me every time I hear you sing or laugh or call my name, every time you hug me or kiss me on the cheek or hold my hand, every time you walk towards me in shorts or a short dress, a hundred times a day sometimes. I'm used to it. It's fine if you ignore it unless you want to do something with it. I never want you to stop kissing me or feel awkward because I've got an erection. Please trust me, if it gets too much to handle than I'll let you know. This isn't exactly new to me you know. The only difference between what's happening now and what happened before we got married is that you're more aware of when I become aroused. I can go back to trying to hide it from you if you want me to but to be honest I'd rather not hide it. That doesn't mean that I want or expect you to do anything about it when you feel it I'd just rather be open with you about how you are making me feel even if it is a bit embarrassing for both of us."

Gabriella thought for a while, "I do want you to be honest with me about how you're feeling, I guess that includes this too" she said gesturing to his crotch.

"Okay then, I'll be honest if you promise you will too. I want to know that you're really okay with this and not feeling too embarrassed or pressured" Troy said with relief.

Gabriella smiled and agreed then grabbed his arms and wrapped them around her as she turned and leaned her back against his chest turning the movie back on.

Chad picked Taylor up at 10 past seven; as usual he was running late. It frustrated Taylor that he could never be on time though it didn't really matter in this case because she'd been the one to make their dinner reservations and had deliberately told Chad they were fifteen minutes earlier than they actually were.

Taylor had been ready early and as she sat and waited for had her mind went back over what had happened the afternoon before. She had spent most of the previous night worrying about her friend's wedding night, and being slightly embarrassed at knowing what they would be up to. She had also been concerned about how it would affect Gabriella's future. It was all very well for Troy to say she would still go to Stanford but really how would that work. With them at different colleges even thought they were only an hour apart, they would have completely different schedules and no friends in common. How long would it take for the pressures of college to tear them apart?

Now as she sat waiting for Chad though she thought for the first time about the potential effects Troy and Gabriella's marriage would have on her relationship with Chad. Up until now she and Chad hadn't been very serious though they had been exclusive for quite some time, they both had decided that they didn't want the hassle of a long distance relationship and accepted that they would break it off when she left for college.

Troy and Gabriella had always been far more emotionally invested in their relationship than she and Chad were in theirs. And she had to admit that if Gabriella had broken up with Troy or moved away and not been there to keep the gang together her friendships with Chad and the boys would likely have quickly cooled back to being friendly acquaintances. Especially since Troy would probably try to avoid the things and people that reminded him of what he'd lost, and his friends would be busy trying to help him get over losing Gabriella.

But what affect would this dramatic increase in Gabriella and Troy's relationship have. On one hand if Jason was right and Troy and Gabriella started spending a lot more time alone it could divide the group. Alternatively if they were still around but more couply would that lead to the group also becoming more divided into their couples?

Add to that Taylor knew that Troy and Chad normally talked about everything, and their friendship was also quite competitive. So if Troy was clearly sexually active would that make Chad think that he needed to be have sex too to keep up with his friend. Taylor hoped not because she definitely wasn't ready to take that step.

Chad arrived looking rather less exuberant than normal and Taylor seeing him already down refrained from scolding him about his poor timekeeping skills.

"Hey Taylor, sorry I'm late" he said quietly instead of making his usual excuses.

"Hi Chad, it's Okay we still have time to make the reservations, let's go" Taylor replied calmly instead of getting annoyed at her boyfriends lack of timekeeping as she usually would.

"How was your day?" she asked as Chad drove.

"Different, this is the first time in ages that I haven't been able to spend time with Troy. I mean I don't always see him every day but knowing I couldn't even call him felt really weird you know" Chad said thoughtfully.

"Yeah I was trying to sort out the training schedule for the scholastic decathlon, and normally Gabriella would be the first person I call because she's involved in so many other things, I couldn't set up anything without her. It made me feel quite unsettled" admitted Taylor

Chad smiled and squeezed her hand glad that she understood.

Gabriella had fallen asleep during the movie and she didn't wake when Troy carefully slid out from underneath her so he gently picked her up and carried her upstairs putting her into bed before going to shower. He returned to the bedroom naked using a towel to dry his hair. When he saw that Gabriella was awake he quickly moved to hold the towel over his privates.

Gabriella laughed "You were happy enough to display your body in public this afternoon and now you're embarrassed?" she asked him.

"Well no. After our talk tonight I didn't want you to think... I mean I don't want to make you uncomfortable I'm sorry about this afternoon."

"Sorry about what exactly. Taking your clothes off in public, or asking me to join you, or cuddling up afterwards? It was fine Troy you needed to wash off the sweat. I'm astonished that you felt comfortable to be naked where you could possibly have been caught by heaven only knows who, but it didn't embarrass me overly. I couldn't even consider being able to do that but you were okay with it when I said no. I would have been upset if you'd pushed but you didn't."

Troy smiled relieved, but didn't move his towel. "What do you want me to wear to bed?" He asked.

"What do you mean? Wear whatever you want." She asked confused,

"No I mean I don't want you to be uneasy with sleeping with me. So do you want me to wear basketball shorts or track pants and a t-shirt like when I used to sneak in to see you before or are you okay with me wearing just my boxers?" He winked cheekily and added "or do you want me completely bare for your enjoyment?" making it clear that the last suggestion was a joke.

Gabriella laughed "And just what would you do if I took you up on that last suggestion Mr Bolton?" She questioned archly.

"Whatever makes you happy Mrs Bolton." He grinned and dropped the towel lying down on top of the quilt fully exposed with his hands up under his head, closing his eyes and pretending to go to sleep.

Gabriella slapped his arm lightly "Troy you can't sleep like that. You will freeze."

"You didn't actually answer my question" he said looking her in the eyes.

"What would you wear if I wasn't here?" she asked quietly.

"Probably just my boxers" Troy admitted hoping she would be okay with that.

"So you've been uncomfortable every night for weeks just for me?" she asked remembering all the nights he'd spent fully dressed in her bed before the wedding.

"Not uncomfortable, a little too warm at times but it was for the best, your mum would have been upset enough if she'd caught me there without finding me in your bed only half dressed as well." Troy shuddered at the thought.

"You're right" she agreed, "but now you can wear what you want. I want you to be comfortable, I would like you to at least have on briefs or boxers with buttons though. Is that okay."

"It's perfectly fine Gabi" he said getting the requested boxers out of the drawer and slipping them on. "Would you prefer me to get dressed in the bathroom from now on?" he asked.

"I don't really mind Troy, it's no hardship to see you like that, you look good naked" Gabriella admitted blushing. "I like the fact you're at ease being naked with me in the room so long as you understand that I'm not secure enough to do the same and probably won't be anytime soon."

"That's fine Gabi hopefully we'll both become more relaxed about this whole living together stuff as we get used to it. Just remember that if I accidentally see you undressed I'm not going to assume it's an invitation to push you into doing anything you don't want to do but I probably won't be able to stop myself from looking. I'm sorry if that makes you uneasy but I love the way you look when you're naked too" said Troy also blushing.

Troy climbed in and lay on his back on his side of the bed, letting Gabriella decide the level of contact between them. She leaned over and kissed him lightly before snuggling in to his side resting her head on his shoulder, drifting off to sleep.

Troy lay there for a while enjoying the feel of her in his arms, reasonably happy with the way their first full day of marriage had gone.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13 and Wildcats2016 for your constant support.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

A/N: Thankyou to FloveHSM for pointing out that I put up the wrong chapter.

Here is the real Chapter 36.

I do not own any part of High School Musical

Dec 8 Sun

They woke the next morning in a very similar position to the day before. Gabriella was lying on top of Troy with one of her legs pressed into his groin. The difference this morning was that after their discussions the day before Gabriella felt more curious than threatened by Troy's morning erection.

"Morning Troy" she said and stretched arching herself against his straining manhood pretending not to notice his reaction.

"Morning Gabi" Troy kissed his wife trying desperately not to thrust against her.

Gabriella returned his kisses enthusiastically, deliberately wiggling her hips slightly.

Troy was glad that she was no longer backing off in fright whenever she felt his erection and was trying to remain still so he didn't scare her off again, but it was killing him. He broke the kiss and stared into Gabriella's eyes seeing amusement sparkling in their depths. The little witch was doing this on purpose.

"Gabi..."he groaned "what are you doing? I thought you said you were going to ignore it when this happens. Are you trying to drive me insane?"

Gabriella giggled and blushed. "I'm sorry Troy" she said trying to lie still. "It's just after yesterday I knew you wouldn't start anything so I felt safe with you poking into me. I kind of like it that I can turn you on so much. I didn't mean to upset you."

Troy threaded a hand through the back of her hair and pulled her back down to resume their making out. Unfortunately for his control he then ran that hand down Gabriella's back causing her to give a whole body shiver.

He groaned and thrust his hips before he could stop himself covering her with his semen.

"OH God" he moaned rolling Gabriella off him and running from the room. He ran downstairs and out the back door oblivious to the fact he was wearing only boxers covered in come. He collapsed in tears of self disgust and despair under the tree leading to his tree-house.

Gabriella lay there for a moment in shock. She wasn't upset that Troy had lost control, she knew that it was her fault for starting it. She was worried about him though. She got up and searched the house. Seeing him huddled under the tree through the dining room window she hurried over to wrap her arms around him.

"Troy?" she asked uncertainly.

Her heart broke as he looked up at her with dull blue-grey eyes and tears running down his face. The last time he'd looked like that had been because he thought he was going to lose her and she rushed to reassure him that she wasn't going to leave him.

"Shh Baby... it's okay... I'm here... I'm not going anywhere..." she said holding him tightly.

"Oh God Gabi! I promised not to... You trusted me... and I..." he sobbed incoherently.

"Sshh Troy it's alright"

"No it's not you didn't want... you're not ready... and I promised you'd be safe with me and I ruined it..."

"Troy please try and calm down" Gabriella begged, "so we can talk it over properly"

Troy just sobbed harder

"I promise we will sort this out. It will be okay"

"How can I make it okay? I abused your trust. I don't deserve you."

Seeing that Troy was beyond reasoning with at this point and knowing that it would take more than reassurances to convince him that he hadn't just destroyed both their marriage and their friendship she sat holding him tightly while her mind frantically tried to find a solution.

She felt guilty it was all her fault she'd started it and then even when he'd tried to warn her she hadn't backed off to let him regain control. And now he was torturing himself with remorse over a situation that was out of his control.

She had to fix this; all she could think of was to find a way show Troy that she still trusted him, and that she was still comfortable being around him when he was aroused. But to do that she'd have to somehow stimulate him again without him running away from her if he did get an erection, and given his current state of mind that would be extremely difficult.

Gabriella eventually noticed that they were both still covered in Troy's semen which had dried into a sticky itchy mess as they sat there, and that they were both shivering uncontrollably in the cold December morning. She badly wanted to shower but was still too worried about Troy to leave him alone with his current emotional breakdown.

An idea occurred to her, it might actually be the answer to getting Troy to see that she still trusted him as much as ever if she could only find the courage to do it. Looking at Troy again still curled up dejectedly refusing to accept her comforting hardened her resolve. She had to do something quickly before he withdrew completely and this was the best plan she could come up with.

She stood and taking Troy's hands pulled him to his feet and led him back into the house and up the stairs. Troy followed her unresisting barely seeming to notice their change in position. She entered his bathroom and pushed him to sit on the toilet lid. Gabriella was seriously worried by his lack of reaction as Troy sat there almost in a stupor while she adjusted the shower. She thought about removing her clothing but couldn't quite bring herself to do so.

She pulled Troy in to the warm shower with her and gently began to wash his shoulders. Troy stood there passively as she slowly washed her way down his arms and then his chest and torso. It wasn't until she reached the waistband of his boxers and started to remove them that he reacted.

"Gabi?" he questioned her moving to cover his genital area with his hands "what are you doing?" He looked around the shower as if wondering how he had got there.

"Shh Troy it's all right" Gabriella put her arms around his waist and hugged him "We were both freezing cold and in need of cleaning up. I was afraid to leave you alone in the state you were in so I thought that this was the best thing to do."

Troy felt her pressed up against him her wet pyjama top and shorts and his equally soaked boxers insufficient barriers to her heat and softness. In spite of himself he started to react. "Gabriella you need to get away from me" he warned he warned afraid she would be upset with him when she realised he was once again becoming aroused.

Gabriella shook her head and leaned back a little to look him in the eyes smiling, since she hadn't loosened her arms around his waist to do so this pressed her stomach more firmly against his growing erection.

"Troy we talked about this yesterday, it's okay to be turned on by me. You don't have to try to hide it. Just enjoy the feeling. I will move away if it makes me uncomfortable. I trust you."

"You shouldn't" he said roughly "I don't trust myself."

"What exactly are you afraid of?" Gabriella asked still not having moved an inch.

"That I'll lose control again." Troy cried "That you'll hate me" he added in a despairing whisper as if afraid to say it out loud.

"I could never hate you Troy. Are you worried that you will get over excited and cum all over me again, or that you'll force me to do something that I don't want to do? Because I know you won't force me, and it's okay if you cum. It won't upset me. What happened earlier was more my fault than yours. Please stop beating yourself up about it."

"How can you say that? I lost control and broke my promise to you."

"No you didn't Troy"

"I promised that we wouldn't do anything sexual until you were ready" he reminded her "and then this morning I did that. I got off dry humping you. I'm sorry I did it, I want to promise it won't happen again but I honestly can't" he started to cry again.

"Troy you didn't break your promise." He wasn't listening so she pulled his head down and kissed him to get his attention.

He pulled back and asked "How can you trust me?"

"Because you didn't break your promise" she said hoping that this time he would hear what she was saying.

"What?"

"Troy what happened this morning. Who started it?" she asked him gently.

Troy looked at her curiously but didn't answer.

"Tell me who started it Troy. I need to know that you know this."Gabriella said firmly

"I lost control..." he started to say.

"No Troy tell me who started it." Gabriella said beginning to sound annoyed.

He thought back to when she was squirming against him and realised that she had done it deliberately knowing what it was doing to him.

"You did?" he answered uncertainly.

"Yes Troy" Gabriella answered softly "I started it. You can't blame yourself for something I started."

"But I lost control."

"Troy you warned me and I chose not to listen, I would have stopped if I wanted to. You didn't break your promise because I wouldn't have started it if I wasn't ready to do that."

"But..."

"I admit I was a little surprised when you came, but I caused it. It's my fault, I forced you to lose control. I'm the one responsible."

"But..."

Gabriella covered Troy's mouth with her hand to stop him from saying anything else and made one last desperate argument, she felt a little guilty for trying to manipulate his emotions but if this didn't work she didn't know what she would do. "I forced you to come. Please don't hate me." She begged.

"Gabriella" Troy looked at her horrified "Of course I don't hate you I love you."

"But you didn't want to and I forced you" she continued the argument relieved that it was working. "And I dragged you into the shower and tried to undress you. I'd be really mad if you'd undressed me while I was lost in thought like that."

"I love you Gabi" Troy said kissing her "please don't do this to yourself, you didn't do anything to me that I wouldn't want you to do."

"I love you too" Gabriella smiled fondly "Okay I'll stop blaming myself if you will. We both enjoyed what we were doing and it got a little out of hand but that's okay. And it will be okay if it happens again too" she said.

"I guess" Troy said uncertainly "but you will be honest if I do something you don't want me to wont you?"

"I promise I will" Gabriella said lightly.

"Promise is a really big word Gabriella" he teased.

"Yes Troy I really do promise I'll tell you if I don't want to do something, but can you understand that what I'm comfortable with might change depending on how I'm feeling, sometimes what was okay last time might not be okay this time and sometimes things I freaked out about in the past I will want to try."

"Yeah I get that. It would be slightly easier with set rules but there really aren't any are there?" he asked

"I guess we could set some basic rules to start with."

"Such as... what rules would you want?" he asked.

Gabriella thought for a moment. "Don't take my clothes off unless I ask you to. Don't start anything unless we're alone and not going to be walked in on, particularly not when Chad or our parents are around. Don't start anything while I'm asleep." She felt a bit hypocritical with that last one but Troy just nodded.

"Is that all?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah I think so. Can you think of any rules we should have?" she asked.

Troy thought for a moment. "Definitely no fooling around at school I don't want to get dad in trouble. And no being too shy to tell me stuff or being afraid of hurting my feelings. If you don't like what I'm doing tell me, if you want me to go slower or faster or be more gentle or even to try a different way of pleasuring you whatever, or even if your just not into it at the time, let me know" He hesitated for a moment and then added "I thought you would want a rule about where I can touch you."

"You mean asking you not to touch my breasts or between my legs?" she asked

"Yeah." Troy waited for her verdict. He would be okay with it if she said not to touch at least then he would know the limits.

"I don't know Troy. I guess touching through my clothes is okay for now, and I'll tell you if I want more than that." Gabriella said thoughtfully "Are you okay with all these rules?"

"Yeah I feel better now I have some idea of what you don't want yet." He said smiling.

"I meant are you all right with having to wait to do those things?" she clarified.

"Gabi I love you I'll wait forever so long as you still let me hug and kiss you I'll be happy." Troy responded kissing her quickly on the lips.

"Oh I think we could do a little more than that." Gabriella smirked wickedly. She'd continued to lean against his groin throughout their conversation and while his erection had waned while he was upset earlier talking about the things he was allowed to do had reawakened it nicely. "I need to finish this shower."

"Do you want me to shower downstairs?" Troy asked immediately

"No Troy I want to finish what I started earlier if you're okay with that" Gabriella told him smiling.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked baffled he really had been out of it earlier and the extremely emotional discussion they'd had had put her earlier actions out of his thoughts.

Instead of answering Gabriella stepped back and hooked her hands into the waistband of his boxers. "May I?" she asked looking up at him pleadingly.

"Umm Sure... I... okay" Troy stuttered.

Gabriella drew down his boxers and knelt to help him step out of them. She reached dor the soap and sponge and slowly washed his feet and legs before turning him around to wash his back and bum. She asked "Do you want me to finish the rest?"

Troy groaned, "Gabi I don't know what to say I would like you to if you want but I might not be able to..."

Gabriella interrupted him with a kiss. "So long as you don't panic and go running off again it will be okay" she said.

"I won't follow you if you run outside in the nude" she told him firmly. "And you'll end up with pneumonia if you keep going out in the cold when you're dripping wet."

Troy laughed sheepishly "Okay I won't run off again" he said.

Gabriella discarded the sponge and lathering up her hands lovingly washed his testicles and penis.

Troy groaned and braced his hands against the walls of the shower "Gabi are you sure about this?" he asked urgently. "'Cause if not you need to stop right now." He said desperately trying not to come before he gave her the choice to stop.

"I'm sure Wildcat." She said squeezing slightly and speeding up her washing action. Troy moved his hands from the shower walls to Gabriella's hips pulling her a little closer. Not close enough to thrust against but to kiss her neck. He bit her softly and laved the wound with his tongue "Stop Troy don't leave a mark." She protested.

"Mmmm" Troy moaned in agreement leaving her neck and kissing his way down towards her breast. Nuzzling her camisole aside he sucked on the part of her breast he knew would always be covered by her clothing before moving down further and taking her satin covered nipple into his mouth. Moving his hands downwards he stroked her core through her pants.

"Troy" Gabriella groaned.

"Come with me Baby" Troy encouraged her rubbing a little faster and switching sides to tongue her other camisole covered breast the thin wet fabric no barrier to the heat of his mouth.

The vibrations of Troy's moan against her breast as he came triggered he own orgasm.

He pulled her into a tight hug as he leaned against the wall letting the warm water continue to run over them both.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Eventually Gabriella stirred and said hesitantly "Troy, can you go and let me finish getting clean. I'll see you downstairs soon."

Troy nodded and immediately got out of the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist left the bathroom. He realised that he still needed to clean up so he walked down the hall to the bathroom in his parent's room and cleaned himself up before pulling on a t-shirt and sweats and lacing up his trainers. Writing Gabriella a quick note so she wouldn't panic when she came downstairs and didn't find him he went out for a run. For the second day in a row he pushed himself as hard as he could trying to outrun his feelings of guilt. He ran his usual circuit in less than half the time it normally took arriving home with his legs and lungs burning but otherwise feeling better than when he set out.

Noticing the bedroom and bathroom were now empty he quickly showered and dressed before going in search of his wife.

Troy arrived downstairs as Gabriella was dishing up bacon and eggs. "I'm sorry" he said quietly standing in the doorway uncertainly.

Gabriella looked at him relieved that he didn't seem to be too upset with himself again. She smiled warmly and said "Breakfast is ready. Let's put off all discussion about our relationship while we eat."

Troy smiled back and walked over to hug her affectionately. "I love you Gabriella" he kissed her quickly then reached up to brush a lock of hair from her face searching her eyes trying to see what she was really feeling.

"I love you too Wildcat" she said turning and handing him a plate, "Now come have breakfast"

Troy complimented Gabriella on her cooking as they ate and then cleaned the kitchen while she went up to finish getting ready to go out. Finishing that he sat and watched a repeat of the basketball game played the night before.

"You should have told me there was a game on, we could have watched it." Gabriella commented entering the room.

"It wasn't important. I love playing but I'm not as obsessed as dad. And you'll see far too many Basketball games when you're living here with Dad" Troy said almost apologetically turning off the television.

Gabriella laughed at that she knew Troy was right, Coach Jack Bolton lived and breathed basketball. In fact she wouldn't mind betting one of his first reactions to learning about their marriage will be to consider how it will affect Troy's basketball future.

"Do you want to talk about this morning?" Troy asked uncertainly not wanting to spoil the comfortable friendly atmosphere between them.

Gabriella sighed before sitting down next to Troy on the couch. "Not really Troy but I guess we should. I don't want us to misunderstand each other again."

"This being married is not so easy is it?" Troy asked ruefully.

Gabriella looked up at him in shock "Do you regret getting married?" She asked anxiously.

"What? No! I didn't mean that... it's just... it's more complicated than I thought it would be... I'm glad we got married... I just feel like I don't know what I'm doing... I feel out of control... I'm afraid of getting it wrong... I want to make you happy and I don't know how." Troy sounded vulnerable and scared.

Gabriella hugged him. "Yeah you're right this weekend has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster hasn't it. But we'll get through this Troy" she attempted to reassure him.

"I never thought that a honeymoon would be something to be got through. Everyone always says they're supposed to be wonderful." Troy said sadly.

Gabriella sighed, "I think that a large part of the problem is that it is all happening so fast. Most people go out for years before they get engaged and then are engaged for months at least and go on honeymoon for two or three weeks. We met less than a year ago, got engaged eleven days ago and we know our honeymoon will be over once your parents get home this afternoon. It takes time for a relationship to grow and it's like we've forced our relationship to grow up before it was ready. We've been in such a hurry to get married before anyone could stop us that we didn't have time to prepare ourselves for the emotional consequences" she tried to explain.

Troy thought about it for a minute then nodded. "Yeah in two weeks we've gone from the type of relationship that is normal for a couple of seventeen year olds to the type of relationship that would be normal for people in their mid twenties but even though everything's changed we're not really any older than we were two weeks ago."

Gabriella thought about this for a moment then nodded. "Under the circumstances I think we are doing pretty well" Gabriella told him.

"You do?" Troy was surprised, yesterday had gone great but this morning had been a disaster in his opinion.

"Yes Troy, I know things haven't gone perfectly but we are still sitting here together calmly discussing what happens from here. We haven't fought at all and neither of us regrets getting married" Gabriella stated "Sure it hasn't all been wonderful, but I honestly think that we've made a good start." Gabriella said firmly.

Troy smiled at her "Well I guess when you put it like that we are doing all right."

"We need to talk about this morning." Gabriella said quietly. Troy went to say something but Gabriella put her finger to his lips. "No more apologies Troy. We need to talk about what happened but I don't want you beating yourself up over any of this."

"Okay" he whispered.

"All right, you woke up aroused – we talked about that yesterday there's nothing wrong with that and it's okay that it will probably continue to happen. Then I teased you and you lost control – That was as much my fault as yours so you don't need to feel bad about it. I guess I should ask do you want me to promise not to do that again."

"I don't know, I liked it but it was embarrassing to lose control like that and I didn't mean to. I felt like I violated you by turning it into sex."Troy blushed and stammered his response.

"You weren't the one who made it sexual Troy. I may have been a virgin until two days ago but I'm not quite that naive, I was turning you on deliberately. I could feel your erection growing as I squirmed against it and I chose to keep going. I should be the one feeling guilty about this morning. You were trying to be considerate and not push me into doing anything sexual and I took advantage of that by teasing you. I'm sorry I never thought that making you lose control would disturb you like that."

Then you got upset with yourself and ran off outside – that was all a misunderstanding there was no need to feel guilty. All I can say about that is that I want you to try and talk to me next time you feel that way instead of running away" she asked him.

"I'll try Gabi but I can't promise, I was too upset to think clearly" Troy replied embarrassed.

"Yes I know running outside in your boxers in this weather..." she trailed off then decided to tease him a little in attempt to lighten the situation, "That's the second time you've been outside without clothes on this weekend, tell me Mr Bolton are you a closet nudist?"

Troy spluttered denials causing Gabriella to laugh. Realizing he was being teased he chuckled.

Okay we talked about all of that earlier and you know I'm fine with it, but are you okay with what happened after that."

"I really enjoyed what we did in the shower" Troy admitted shyly "but I was worried when you asked me to leave. Did I do something wrong? Did I push you too far? I'm sorry."

Gabriella cursed inwardly, she should have known that Troy would react that way to her request for privacy. She kissed his cheek and then rested her head on his shoulder. "No Troy you didn't do anything wrong. I really enjoyed what we did in the shower too."

"Then why'd you send me away?" he asked uncertainly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." She tried to explain "I just wanted to be able to take my wet clothes off and clean up. I don't know if you're going to be able to understand this Troy but I'm not comfortable with being naked the way you are. I just can't strip off in front of you. It's not that I don't trust you because I do but I feel too self conscious."

Troy nodded his acceptance and understanding, "Like yesterday morning when you were okay being naked in bed when we first woke up but then wanted a shirt to put on before you got out of bed?" he clarified.

Gabriella blushed and nodded shyly.

"Okay I can respect that though I don't really understand why you feel like that. You do know that I think your naked body is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

"Only one of?" Gabriella tried to hide her blush and pretended to be upset. "What else is the most beautiful thing?"

"Yeah well... you're smile, the way you look at me when you tell me you love me and the way you looked at our wedding" Troy started to ramble.

Gabriella gave him that beautiful smile he loved so much and hugged him. "Troy you said that you're afraid that I'm not happy. I am happy Troy. You've always made me happy, I love spending time with you. Being together all this weekend has been great. Highly emotional at times but still mostly wonderful."

"So our honeymoon has been wonderful? Even though I'm sure it wasn't anything like what you dreamed it would be before this."

"There are some things that are exactly the way I'd dreamed they'd be."

"Oh?" Troy enquired curiously.

"It was with you Troy" she admitted bravely "ever since New Year's Eve all my dreams of weddings and honeymoons and future children have all included you. Even in those first few days before we came to Albuquerque when I didn't know if I'd ever see you again I was dreaming about you. So even though this isn't the most glamorous location and it hasn't been at all relaxing, a lot of my dreams still came true because I married you."

Troy kissed her deeply starting another make out session which lasted the rest of the morning.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

A/N: If you only read one new chapter please go back to read the real chapter 36. I do not own High School Musical.

Troy was quietly panicking as he drove Gabriella home about two o'clock. He parked in the drive and opening her door and lifting her out he took her hand and led his equally nervous wife into the house.

Maria had been cleaning the kitchen and she looked up with a small frown of uncertainty when she recognised the distinctive sound of Troy's truck. Watching Troy and Gabriella enter still holding hands it was obvious that they were no longer following her request to break off their relationship if they ever truly had. Maria was extremely upset that her daughter had defied her in this way. It would have been nearly impossible to establish a comfortable relationship with Eduardo if she hadn't given up on the idea of loving Troy. And even though the marriage could now be avoided Gabriella would be far better off having made a clean break from Troy instead of hoping that they could somehow maintain a relationship even when they would be completely unable to contact each other in any way for eighteen months. Trying hard to control her anger she turned to her daughter and quietly asked her to talk in the other room.

"No Mom, anything you want to say about Troy you can say right here in front of him. You were wrong when you tried to send him away when I needed him the most; and I'm not going to let you do it again." Gabriella replied wrapping both arms around Troy showing her mother that she was not about to back down over this.

"I only want what's best for you mija. This relationship with Troy cannot continue, and the longer you drag out finishing it the more it will hurt you both" Maria said pleading for her daughter to be sensible.

"Troy knows I'm not going to marry Eduardo, Mom, there's no reason for us to break up" Gabriella replied.

Maria frowned at her daughter. "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone Gabriella, I'm very disappointed in you. Please tell me that he doesn't know where you are going. It could get us all in trouble."

"I trust Troy with everything Mom. Besides I'm not going with Aunt Ginevra. We came up with our own plan. I'm going to stay here with Troy" Gabriella declared.

Maria stared at her daughter in exasperation. "Gabriella that's impossible! Your father will come and get you when we don't turn up on the 21st. And where will you stay, Jack and Lucille won't let you just move in with their son."

"Mrs Montez, Gabriella and I were married on Friday. She can't be forced into another marriage, I love her and she loves me, we want to be together." Troy looked Maria straight in the eyes refusing to back down or show uncertainty.

For a moment an expression of happiness crossed Maria's face before being ruthlessly banished. Gabriella who was looking at the floor missed it but Troy noticed and relaxed slightly. It seemed their speculation might be correct. Maria had deliberately left the permission form for them to find.

"Are you sure this was the right thing to do Mija. High school romances rarely last forever. How can Troy support you and take care of you? Marriage is not a game; it takes time and effort to make it work." Maria declared with frustration.

"What Gabriella and I have is not a normal high school romance" Troy interrupted. "I am more than willing to put the effort and the time to make it work. I love her. She is a part of me." Troy added tenderly when he cast a loving side-glance at his wife. "Even if you're right (and I don't for a moment think that you are) if our marriage doesn't work out in the long term it is still worth the chance. I promise you that I love your daughter with all my heart and I will do everything I possibly can to look after her and make her happy she's not just my wife but also my best friend. That won't change no matter what else does."

"It wasn't just the right thing to do Mom, it was the only thing to do. I can't live without Troy in my life. I couldn't go into hiding and not speak to him for 18 months. I just couldn't do it. I know Troy and I are young but we are meant to be together" Gabriella said pleading for her mother to understand and accept their marriage.

"Mrs. Montez, I know it's too late to ask this. It means so much to us that we have your blessings for our marriage. Would you give us your blessing?" Troy asked as voice rang with sincerity.

Gabriella looked at her mother anxiously.

"Oh Mija!" Maria cried hugging Gabriella with tears in her eyes. "I only ever wanted what is best for you. I'm still not convinced that marrying Troy was a good idea. But it's done now and you can count on my full support. I pray that you are right and that your love is strong enough for all the obstacles you are going to face." Maria then turned to Troy "Welcome to the family" she said giving him a hug as well.

"Thank you Mrs Montez" Troy said hugging his mother-in-law awkwardly.

"I think it's time you started to call me Maria, Troy" she said smiling.

Gabriella's eyes filled with tears of relief. She had tried to prepare herself to deal with her mother's anger and disapproval but as a result of having moved so often she and Maria had always been very close and it hurt her to think they might part on bad terms.

Troy took Gabriella's hand and smiled encouragingly.

"What are you going to do next year? Will you still be accepting your place at Stanford or will you go to U of A with Troy?" Maria asked working hard to make her voice sound calm.

"Yes Mum I'll still go to Stanford" Gabriella replied surprised her mum hadn't asked earlier.

Maria smiled not sure that she believed Gabriella would follow through with this, but willing to let her daughter make her own decision, "I would understand if you wanted to stay in Albuquerque with Troy you know. I had given up on the dream of you attending Stanford when your father's arrangements for the wedding arrived."

"You knew that Eduardo wouldn't let her go to college? I thought Stanford was important to you." Troy exclaimed angrily.

"It was important to me particularly because it has been Gabriella's dream for so long. I didn't like the idea of her being forced to give it up, but I couldn't find a legal way out of the contract that I could possibly afford. I simply did not have the ten million dollars that reneging on the contract would have cost me. I'm sorry Mija" Maria apologised to her daughter.

"What happens with that now, will you have to pay?" Gabriella asked fearfully.

"No Gabi, I didn't renege on the contract, you circumvented it totally without my knowledge or assistance" Maria reassured her.

"Will Gabriella and I have to pay instead?" Troy asked anxiously.

"No Troy, because Gabriella never signed the contract, she cannot be held accountable to it. Even if they wanted to try to sue either of us for breach of contract Gabriella and I are now American citizens, any action would have to be taken through the American court system and the Americans do not look favourably on enforcing Marriage Contracts involving minors. Neither Alejandro nor Eduardo will want to risk the publicity and damage to their reputations that taking this to court would undoubtedly bring. Especially with such a slim chance of winning. Truly there is nothing to worry about. And if they do try we could threaten to write to the major TV networks and current affairs shows, this is the sort of story they would be interested in. The threat of what that would do to their standing in the community and their business affiliations would make both Eduardo and Alejandro withdraw their claim or perhaps even settle in our favour with a payout in return for not exposing them to the media."

"I don't want their money. I just want them to leave Gabriella and me alone." Troy said still a bit concerned about Gabriella's father's reaction.

"How did your parents react Troy, will they let you and Gabriella stay with them until Graduation?" Maria asked putting the kettle on.

She watched worriedly as Troy ducked his head and reached up to rub the back of his neck, sure signs of nervousness. Maria stared at him silently demanding an answer. "Well they don't exactly know yet" he said. "They are away for the weekend and won't be back until about five o'clock. We'll tell them when they get home."

"Oh... What will you do if they won't let Gabi stay with you?"

"I think that they will, we overheard them discussing the possibility of inviting Gabriella to stay with us when you left." Troy answered.

"But they haven't followed through with the invitation" Maria reminded him.

"No but it has only been a week. We overheard the conversation on Sunday and I haven't seen much of them this week. We've all been so busy and they left Friday before I got home. When I heard them, they decided to wait until I brought it up, they agreed that they would consider letting her stay if it was important enough to me to actually ask them."

"Though I think that Troy's father at least is hoping that Troy doesn't ask" Gabriella added insecurely.

"Yeah that's just a Coach thing though Gabriella." Troy attempted to reassure his wife.

"A Coach thing?" her mother asked curiously.

"Yeah Dad likes Gabriella and is happy we're together, but 'Coach Bolton' would ban the entire team from having girlfriends or any other outside interests if he could." Troy explained "he thinks they're a distraction and we should all focus more on Basketball. Gabriella is especially targeted in that because he still partly blames her for me getting involved in musicals as well."

"I see" said Maria laughing as she recalled some of Lucille's frustration with her husband's priorities over the past year.

"Have you got a backup plan if Jack and Lucille don't allow Gabriella to stay with you?" Maria asked concerned that Troy had evaded the question earlier.

"Not really Mum, I thought of asking Taylor, Kelsi, Martha and maybe Ryan and Sharpay if I could stay with them for a few weeks each once you leave, then if Coach and Mrs Bolton haven't changed their minds about us I don't know what we'll do."

"Or you could accept the early entry to Stanford and live in the dorms on campus" her mother interjected.

Gabriella sighed "yeah I guess I could though I don't want to if I can avoid it. It's just so far away"

"This new project is going to pay very well, and considering after our mammoth shopping trip courtesy of your father's credit card, I no longer have to provide you with any material possessions for quite some time I'm sure I could afford to fly you back to Albuquerque every fourth weekend as long as you kept your grades up."

"That's very generous of you Mrs Montez" Troy said quietly. He wasn't sure about this offer, was Gabriella's mother trying to help them or was she trying to separate them again by encouraging Gabriella to move to California six months early.

Maria could hear the rejection of this idea in both the young people's voices, so she let the subject drop, not wanting to have another falling out with her daughter and new son-in-law.

A/N2: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13 and FlovesHSM for your support.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Troy and Gabriella were sitting downstairs watching a movie while they waited for Troy's parents to arrive home from their weekend away. Neither was paying any attention to the screen however, both lost in their own thoughts. They were both dreading the inevitable upcoming explosion that would occur when they revealed their marriage to Coach Bolton. Any thoughts about Troy's mom's reaction were overshadowed by the thought of his father's anger.

Gabriella was mostly worried about Troy being hurt by his father's angry reaction. Jack had in the past been very unsupportive of anything that came between Troy and basketball, and Troy had been hurt in the past when Jack had reacted more like a coach instead of a father. Yes she was concerned what would happen if the Boltons refused to let her stay with Troy once her mother left but she was more concerned that this could shatter Troy's relationship with his father beyond repair. Gabriella knew that if pushed Troy would choose her over his parents and she didn't know what she could do to prevent that choice from having to be made.

Jack and Lucille arrived home about 6pm, and greeted their son quickly before taking their bags upstairs. Troy knew they were taking the opportunity to check the house for any damage or evidence that he'd had a broken the rules and had a party. Their suspicions didn't worry him; if things had been different he might have attempted to hold a small gathering. Unlike other kids he didn't really have to worry about parties at his house getting out of hand, most of the school was too intimidated by Coach Bolton, that and last time he had got caught having a party Coach had all his PE classes running suicides for a week. He was a little concerned that his parents would check his room though and notice Gabriella had been staying with him or worse that they would smell the scent of sex in the air. Troy and Gabriella had done their best to prevent this, putting away Gabriella's clothes and bag, washing the sheets and towels, and leaving the window open. Troy didn't mind his parents knowing that he was having sex, he doubted they'd be surprised anyway especially after finding condoms left in his bathroom. But he wanted to tell them on his own terms.

Apparently they had passed inspection because his parents came back into the lounge with smiles and asked how Troy's weekend had gone.

"Pretty eventful, we have some things to talk to you about but it will take a while and I want you to listen to the whole story before you say anything okay?"

"Is everything alright? You're not hurt?" Lucille asked, then added "Is it Maria?" seeing that Gabriella looked just as worried as Troy.

"Everything's fine Mama. No-one's hurt and no it's not really about Mrs Montez. Well maybe kinda a bit, but she's fine, don't worry." Troy answered trying to calm his mother down.

"You better not be telling me that Gabriella's pregnant." Jack said in a cold hard voice. He knew that they would support his son no matter what but he didn't want his son to throw away his future.

"No of course not" Troy yelled getting angry when he saw that his father's words had hurt his wife. He wrapped his arms around her and demanded that his father apologise.

Lucille added her glare to her son's letting Jack know that he would be in serious trouble later if he didn't make a sincere apology and start being more accepting of his son's relationship.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that" Jack said softly.

"Is this about Maria and Gabriella moving away?" his mother asked, she had been expecting Troy to bring the topic up for the last week but she was a little put out that he did so in front of Gabriella, she thought Troy should have known that they would need to talk it over just the three of them before they could make any offer for Gabriella to stay with them. If in fact that was what Troy was wanting.

"Not really, but it's sort of related. It's a long story."

"Well then if it's not something we urgently need to do something about, maybe we should discuss it over dinner. I thought maybe Chinese. Would you like to stay Gabriella?" she asked not quite as warmly as usual, attempting to let Troy know that he should think about whether it was appropriate to have this discussion with Gabriella present.

"Yes I would like to stay if it's okay with you?" Gabriella replied looking up at Troy's parents. She had noticed the coolness of the invitation and her anxiety increased, they had not even begun to tell the Bolton's about their marriage and already both of them were displeased with her for some reason.

Troy and Gabriella excused themselves to wash up while Jack went out to collect the food and Lucille set the table. As soon as they were alone Gabriella threw herself into Troy's arms "Oh Troy," she cried softly "They are already mad at me and I don't know why. What are we going to do?"

Troy thought for a moment "I don't know why they seem to want you to leave, they obviously don't know about the wedding or they would have gone completely mad. Maybe they want you to go home so they can tell me off about something. If it was something minor they might not want to embarrass me by scolding me in front of an audience or you by having to listen to me being scolded. They always used to send Chad home before telling me off unless he was involved too."

"I guess that makes sense." Gabriella replied doubtfully.

"How about I go down now and you stay up here until Dad gets home. I'll ask what's up and if she's angry with me it'll give her a chance to vent and then I'll know what's going on. We need to try to sort this out before we tell them, hopefully it's just a misunderstanding." He gave his wife a small kiss. "I love you Babe"

Troy walked down and found his mother unpacking the dishwasher, he started to help then asked "What's wrong Mum? Are you upset with me and Gabriella for something?"

"Not exactly Troy but are you sure that we should have this conversation in front of Gabriella later. It might be better if we talked it over ourselves first. You are really putting us on the spot if you ask us to let Gabriella stay with us after her mom leaves without giving us the chance to talk it over in private. It's not fair to your father and I or Gabriella. I had hoped you had the maturity to realise that."

Troy nodded "You're right mama, or you would be if that was the whole story. But there is something we need to tell you both that involves Gabriella, and she wants to be here to help explain it. I also thought that Dad's more likely to listen to both of us together rather than losing his temper before he has the whole story."

Lucille looked at her son and noticed for the first time the tension in his eyes. "It's really bad isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"I don't think it's bad at all Mom. But you and Dad might." Troy answered quietly.

"Are you and Gabriella in some sort of trouble?" she asked worried about her son.

"No Mama" Troy answered "No trouble, we're alright it's just..." his voice trailed off. "I think it's best if I wait and tell you both together, it's big mama but please try to remember that it's something I chose to do and I don't regret it. I won't regret it no matter how upset you and Dad get about it, or what you say and do. It was my decision to make, and we have thought through all the consequences. It was the right thing to do. I'm really happy and I hope you and Dad can be happy for us too.." He trailed off again and gave his mother a sheepish grin.

Lucille was really worried now, what had he done? She looked at him carefully examining his face for any hints of his emotions. She was surprised to see that under the surface tension, which she attributed to the upcoming confrontation, he actually looked happier than he had for a long time. She was also struck by the maturity she saw in his face. For the first time Lucille looked at her son and saw not the little boy she loved, but the man he was becoming. He was standing there telling her that he knew she was unlikely to approve of his actions, but that he believed that he'd done the right thing for him regardless of her opinion. He was being honest and up front with them, and no matter what she thought about whatever it was he was going to say she had to respect his courage to stand up for his actions.

"Okay Troy, I'll leave it for now. Why don't I go up and get Gabriella. I didn't mean to make her feel unwelcome."

"Thanks Mama"

Lucille walked lightly up the stairs and found Gabriella sitting on Troy's bed talking on his phone. "Troy can't talk to now Chad I'm sure he'll call you later."

... "No we haven't, after dinner" ... "Yes you can ask him about it when he calls" ... "Chad Danforth don't you dare ask him that." ... "No Chad I won't"... "Bye Chad" she said hanging up before he could say anything else.

Lucille stopped just out of sight of the doorway, slightly taken aback by the conversation, she would hesitate to even answer Jack's phone but clearly Gabriella hadn't hesitated she had picked it straight up and had spoken for Troy and although he was just downstairs had told Chad he was unavailable instead of calling him to the phone.

She tapped lightly on the open door, and entered. Gabriella glanced up and the smile on her face dimmed a bit when she saw that it wasn't Troy. "Hi Mrs Bolton, is it time for dinner?" she asked slightly nervously.

Lucille came in and sat on the bed "Not quite yet, I came up to apologise for making you uncomfortable earlier. I was being unfair. It was nothing to do with you and I want you to know you're always welcome here" she said smiling warmly at the girl who meant so much to her son.

Gabriella gave a very small smile "Thank you" she said quietly hoping that Troy's parents still felt that way after they heard about their marriage.  
"Have you decided where you are going when your mother goes to Mexico?" Lucille asked thinking she was changing the subject.

"Well I think so. It's not totally sorted out yet. I can't really talk about it though." Gabriella said blushing in embarrassment at not being able to give a straight answer.

Lucille wasn't sure quite what to think of this, but respected Gabriella's wish not to discuss it.

They heard Jack's car pull into the drive, and headed downstairs to meet them. Gabriella went straight to Troy and wrapped her arms around him. He lowered his head and they had a quick whispered conversation. Lucille noticed Troy looked a little less apprehensive and as he smiled at Gabriella she was struck by the tenderness in his eyes.

Lucille pulled Jack into the kitchen. "Jack please promise me that you will listen to your son when he explains what's going on later." She said in a quiet but firm voice.

"You know what he's going to tell us?" Jack asked. He shouldn't be surprised that Troy confided in his mother first but he was a little hurt.

"No he insisted on telling us both together. But he's very serious about whatever it is. I get the impression that if we try to force him to change his mind or to stop whatever it is that we could lose him." Lucille said worried.

"Why? What did he say?" Jack demanded slightly annoyed.

"Just that he believes he has made the right decision and will continue to believe that he has no matter who disagrees with it. It was more the way he looked when he said it than the words, whatever this is about he is totally committed to it."

Jack nodded "Okay I will try."

"I mean it Jack. Troy's growing up, it is time to let him make his own decisions." Jack had a suspicion she was talking about more than just the upcoming conversation but didn't pursue the issue."

"Okay I get it. Listen to Troy. Hold my temper. Give him a chance to explain."

Lucille backed off knowing she had done as much as she could, it would be counterproductive to push her husband further and she would just have to hope for the best. She called everyone to the table and they began helping themselves to the various dishes. As she watched Troy serve himself she noticed that he was wearing her father's wedding ring. Having been left it in her father's will, the ring was his by right to wear but she had never seen him wear it before and she wondered if he had put it on for emotional support in the upcoming discussion. That would mean that Troy felt that his Grandparents would have accepted the situation even if she and Jack might not. These thoughts brought her comfort if Troy felt that her parents would have supported him then it couldn't be anything too dreadful, her father was a sensible man, if a little overly given to grand romantic gestures, and Troy was like him in many ways.

A second possible reason for Troy to be wearing his Grandfather's wedding ring occurred to her. 'Surely not' she thought 'he couldn't have more he wouldn't have without her and his father. Would he?' She looked at Gabriella's hands hoping to be proven wrong.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara (glad to hear you're alright), Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and iminlove13 and Winterzkisses for your support.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Lucille's face went white and she put her hand to her heart and rushed from the table. She ran up the stairs and started to pace 'Married! Troy got married? My little boy got married without telling us? He's too young. Why would he do such a thing?' her thoughts flew around in circles as she tried to calm herself. She now understood Troy's unspoken warning earlier. If they tried to force him to give up this marriage, he would choose Gabriella and they would lose him. He claimed to have thought this through and have good reasons for doing what he'd done 'Good reasons' her mind scoffed 'for getting married before he even finished High School?' her anger began to take hold. She wanted to go down there and force him to undo this, to forbid him from seeing Gabriella ever again, she wanted to ground him into the next century. Against her better judgement, she marched down the stairs ready to confront him. She walked into the dining room and as looked at Troy, suddenly her anger faded.

Troy was sitting there smiling slightly as he spoke softly to Gabriella, she couldn't hear what they were saying but the mutual love and tenderness brought her rampage to a halt. He was happy, her son was no longer just her little boy. Gabriella made him truly happy. She couldn't take that away from him. Lucille stood in the doorway, silently watching them for several minutes before Jack noticed her there.

"There you are. Where did you go? You hardly ate any dinner. We saved some for you it's in the refrigerator. Are you ready to sit down and talk to the kids?"

She smiled and came in to sit on the arm of Jack's chair not blocking him in but in a position she could put a hand on his shoulder if she needed to restrain him.

"I'm ready." She attempted to smile at Troy. She could see determination in his features.

Troy didn't hesitate "As we said before it's complicated and I would like you to hear the whole thing before you say anything." He stopped and took a deep breath.

"It started just over three weeks ago, Mrs Montez told us that Gabriella's father had arranged a marriage for her and she was going to be forced to get married in Cuba between Christmas and New Year."

Lucille made a horrified noise but Troy held up his hand asking her not to say anything.

"We went looking for the contract; we were going to take it to a lawyer for advice." Troy continued.

"I called the legal advice line and they told me that here in America I couldn't be forced to marry against my will, but Papa's family live in Cuba. Over there I wouldn't have any say in it, my father's consent is enough until I am eighteen he would be the one that signed the legal marriage licence anyway. I thought about running away but though I've lived in lots of different places I didn't have anyone that would take me in and nowhere to go."

"When we found the contract we also found a underage marriage consent form signed by Mrs Montez for the marriage, it hadn't been fully filled in." Troy stopped and took a deep breath visibly bracing himself as if expecting a blow. "I proposed to Gabriella and we were married on Friday" he stated looking down at the floor.

For a moment there was total silence. Even though she had been expecting this since she noticed the wedding rings Lucille still found herself shocked.

"Surely there was a better option?" Lucille asked quietly. She had recovered faster than Jack because she'd already suspected what was coming and she wanted to keep the conversation going before Jack's shock gave way to anger.

Troy looked his mother in the eye. "Gabriella and her aunt discussed going into hiding, but her mother was doubtful they would succeed" he said.

"Papa and Eduardo are very wealthy and powerful men. Mum was concerned that we were already being watched, though I think we would have found out by now if we were. Mum's already tried to hide from them, that was the real reason we moved so often in the past. It didn't work, they still found us." explained Gabriella.

"To be honest Mama, Gabriella and I were already planning to get married when her Aunt started planning to help her run away. I would have understood if she had gone with her aunt but I'm very glad that she didn't. I love Gabriella; Mama please understand I couldn't lose her. Not when she didn't want to go."

Jack tried to jump to his feet, but was restrained by the hand on his shoulder, his face became an alarming shade of red and he began to yell.

Lucille squeezed his shoulder tightly and slapped her hand over his mouth. Jack Bolton you agreed to listen to your son, now control your temper before you say something that Troy won't be able to forgive you for.

Jack glared at her, and Lucille glared right back. "You promised" she reminded him. Jack continued to try to yell, but Lucille wouldn't let him. Eventually he sighed and sat back in the chair.

"Okay I promised to hear the whole story so let's have it. Why on earth would you do something so stupid? You're going to be on opposite sides of the country for the next four years why not wait and marry after college if you were still together?"

Troy realised that the shock of the marriage had wiped the rest of the explanation from his father's mind.

"Dad we explained. Gabriella was going to be forced to marry one of her father's friends in Cuba at Christmas; we had to do something to prevent it now. We couldn't wait until after college."

"So you gave up your future to protect Gabriella?" his father asked.

"No I haven't given up my future Dad, Gabriella is my future. She always was. We'll still go to college; I'll still play basketball and get a scholarship. Being married doesn't have to change any of that."

"So you're still going to U. of A.?" Jack asked belligerently.

Troy shook his head and looked his father straight in the eyes and said calmly. "No Dad I'm not, but I probably wouldn't have anyway. I've been looking into colleges closer to Stanford for a while now. That's one of the reasons the scouts from Berkley wanted to talk to me after the game the other night, I've already applied there."

"Berkley?" His father questioned his decision.

"Yeah it's my first choice they have a great team and it's only 32.7 miles from Stanford. I really like what I've heard about their Drama program too." Troy knew his father couldn't care less about Drama programs but he wanted to reassure his parents that he had thoroughly looked into Berkley as a choice of colleges, not just chosen it because it was close to where Gabriella would be. "It's a division 1 team" he added to encourage his father to accept the decision.

"Berkley's a thousand miles away" his mother protested softly.

"Yeah Mama I know, but we'll be home for Christmas and in the summer but to be honest if I have to choose between being a thousand miles from you guys and close to Gabi or close to you but a thousand miles from Gabriella then I'm sorry but I need to be close to Gabi more." He didn't want to hurt his mother that way but it was important for them to understand that even before the crises that led to their marriage Gabriella had come first in his heart.

"But you've always wanted to be a 'Red Hawk' and that's your most certain chance for a scholarship." His father said.

"And if I don't get any other offers then that's where I'll go, but I've applied for several other places in California too. The scouts the other night were pretty positive that I'd get a decent offer from Berkley though." Troy replied.

"What about your dreams of being a Red Hawk, of sharing a dorm with Chad and playing on the same team. It used to be all you talked about. Ever since you were a little kid."

"I'm not a little kid anymore Dad. Dreams change and this is the right decision for me now. Chad understands Dad, he knows that if he wants to come to California too he's more than welcome, but I just can't stay here when my heart is in California. It wouldn't do any good anyway. You saw how badly I played in that practice match before the season when I thought I was going to lose Gabriella forever. I can't play when she's not in my life" Troy argued.

Jack didn't reply but in his heart he admitted the truth of that statement. Troy could only play well when he was content with the rest of his life. It was his son's biggest weakness. Troy's skill on the court had always been much too strongly linked to his emotions, and while Jack believed his son would've gotten over Gabriella if she had left, he had to admit that it may not have happened quickly enough before Troy's inability to play while unhappy ruined his chances of a scholarship. He got up and quietly wished them all goodnight, explaining that he needed some time to clear his head.

A few minutes later the sound of someone practicing Basketball outside could be heard. Lucille and Troy exchanged amused/relieved smiles, his father was so predictable. He would sort through his thoughts and take out his anger on the ball and hopefully be in a more accepting frame of mind by the time he came inside, or at least be able to talk it through rationally.

Troy turned back to his mother, who had yet to really react to his news. "Mama" he asked quietly "are you okay with all this?"

Lucille smiled sadly at her son "It's not what I wanted for you Troy but I do understand how much you love Gabriella and how you could think that this was the solution you needed. We'll all just have to make the best of the situation. I'll talk to your father when he comes in. I assume you are wanting Gabriella to stay with us when her mother leaves?" she offered.

"Not just when Maria goes Mama, Gabriella is my wife. We'll leave if you want us to, but I'm not going to let you separate us now." Troy said quietly.

Lucille was impressed by the determination and lack of rebellion or defiance in her son's face and voice. He had truly become an adult and he deserved to be treated like one. "Okay Troy" she agreed "You're right Gabriella is part of this family now and she's welcome to move in with you. I'll clear out the guest room for her tomorrow."

Troy and Gabriella looked at each other and blushed. "That's not necessary Mama" he mumbled.

Lucille laughed at their obvious embarrassment "Oh I imagine Gabriella will need the extra room for her clothes and books and things particularly once her mother has moved away. Don't worry I don't expect her to sleep in it. I must ask though, are you being safe. This marriage might not change too many of your plans and dreams for the future but having a baby now would play havoc with all of them."

"Yes Mama we know. We're being safe. I promise." Troy replied turning an even deeper shade of scarlet.

"With this they said goodnight and made their escape. "That went a lot better than I thought it would" said Troy as they reached their room.

"It seemed to" Gabriella agreed. "Though I have a feeling that this was only the first round. I'm not sure what will happen when our parents get together tomorrow."

"Yeah" Troy gave a slightly nervous laugh, "But it can't possibly be any worse than today."

"That's true. But your Dad hasn't really accepted it yet has he?" Gabriella asked.

Troy sighed "No he just ran out of arguments. Playing ball will likely help him think of some new one's for tomorrow, but it should also calm him down some too. But the worse fights we've had have always been when he's reacted without time to go outside and think things through first." Troy reassured her. "It was this first reaction I was afraid of, he should be at least ready to actually listen next time he brings it up even if he still doesn't agree with what we've done."

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, iminlove13 and WinterzKisses for your support.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Gabriella rang her mother to let her know that the Boltons had accepted the situation and she would be staying with Troy. Maria then asked Gabriella if she could have Troy drop her off for an hour or so before she went to the Bolton's for dinner the next day so they could talk before she came around to speak with the Boltons.

Troy meanwhile had rung Chad to let him know that they'd survived telling the parents.

"Dad's still out shooting hoops, but he seems okay with me and Gabriella being married" he told his friend.

"And did you tell him about not going to U of A?" Chad questioned.

"Yeah! I think that's what has him outside at this time of night" Troy replied wryly. "I don't know what he's actually more upset by, but he was angry about Berkley."

"Or maybe he was angry about both and knew you'd react badly if he shouted at Gabriella" Chad suggested surprisingly insightfully.

"Why would you say that?"

"Come on Troy. We all know you're super protective of Gabriella. You would have gone ballistic if Coach'd upset her."

It was still quite early but Troy and Gabriella were both exhausted from such an emotional day so they said goodnight to Jack and Lucille and headed upstairs. Troy took first turn in the shower while Gabriella talked to Taylor, he smiled to himself at the memories of Gabriella joining him in the shower that morning but didn't expect her to feel comfortable doing so again for a while especially while his parents were home. He wrapped himself in a towel and returned to the room. Gabriella then took her turn in the shower while Troy packed his bag for practice and school the next day. She returned looking a little anxious and wearing pyjamas that were far less revealing than yesterday's. Troy smiled reassuringly and went over to take her into his arms. He frowned when she resisted slightly and put his hand under her chin to lift her face so he could see her eyes. "What's the matter love, you don't need to be anxious, tell me what you're thinking" he asked concerned.

"I'm sorry Troy, I just don't feel comfortable having sex while your parents might hear us" she admitted quietly.

Troy laughed ruefully, "Gabriella, I was trying to give you a hug not initiate foreplay" he said. "To be honest I don't want to risk Mum and Dad hearing us have sex either, it's fine I didn't marry you for the sex you know, though you are awfully good at it." He waggled his eyebrows and leered exaggeratedly.

Gabriella giggled as he had intended and relaxed into the hug.

"Now come to bed" he said pulling her over to the bed and pushing her down to sit on the edge. "Can I cuddle you if I promise to behave?" he asked giving her a mock pleading look.

Gabriella laughed again and kissing him gently, settled down to sleep in his arms.

Troy was about to fall asleep himself when he heard crying. He turned on the bedside light and turned to Gabriella worried, but Gabriella was sound asleep with a small smile on her face. He listened carefully. He could hear the basketball still bouncing on the concrete court outside, and the quiet sniffle of someone crying. He got up and pulled on a t-shirt and shorts and went to investigate. Standing in the hallway outside his parent's door he hesitated. His mum was crying probably over him. Gabriella came up behind him and slipped her hand into his. He smiled at her gratefully.

He knocked on the door before slowly opening it and calling out "Mama, can I come in?"

Hearing no protest, and desperately hoping his mother was dressed he slowly entered the room and seeing his mother in bed crossed to sit on the side, laying his hand on his mother's shoulder. Gabriella followed silently with her hand still trapped in Troy's, she felt a little uncomfortable being there but knew Troy might need her support.

"Mama, please don't cry" he said quietly waiting for her to acknowledge his presence.

"Why couldn't you tell us Troy? Why not let us come to your wedding?" his mother cried.

Troy let go of Gabriella's hand and leaned over to hug his mother. "I wanted for you to be there Mama" he said quietly. "We were afraid you'd try to stop us."

Lucille cried on his shoulder but didn't deny their fears.

"Reverend Anderson said he'd be happy to marry us again with our family present once everyone could come" Gabriella offered, "We will have to wait until after my birthday next year otherwise Mum could be in trouble for breach of contract by letting me marry someone other than Eduardo."

Lucille looked a little happier at that news. "Does Maria know about your marriage?" She asked.

"Yes we told her this afternoon" Gabriella answered quietly, "She was worried how you and Mr Bolton would react. She wanted to call and tell you herself. In the end she agreed to wait until you got home so we could tell you in person, she wants to come around tomorrow to talk to you both."

"Invite her for dinner for me please" Lucille asked her new daughter in law.

"Gabriella smiled "Yes I'm sure she will like that. I'll call her in the morning"

Troy kept hugging his mother "I love you Mama. I want you to be happy for me. Please don't be sad."

"Oh Troy. I'm afraid of losing you. You will be so far away next year and you won't be home as much as you think you will. Maria will want you to visit her wherever she is too. You've grown up so quickly and I'm just not ready for all this. I can see that you're happy, and I want to be happy for you, I will be happy for you but I need a little time. It seems only yesterday that I was crying because I missed you when you started school and were no longer home all day, and here you are talking about moving across the country. My little boy is gone and there you are a young man instead.

Troy chuckled "I'll never be so big that I won't need you Mama" he reassured her, "and you'll have a daughter-in-law to spoil now too. I know you've always wanted a girl." His mother had always spoken of wanting a daughter.

Lucille looked him in the eye "I would have liked for you to have a sister Troy David Alexander Bolton but don't you for one second imagine that I wasn't absolutely delighted to have you as my son" she said sternly.

Troy grinned "I know Mama" he said squeezing her gently.

Gabriella smiled at him and indicated that she was going back to bed. He nodded and she kissed his cheek before leaving the room. He held his mother until she fell asleep and then gently lay her down, "Goodnight Mama, love you" he whispered as he kissed her forehead.

His father was standing in the doorway watching as he turned to leave. He moved aside to let Troy out without speaking. "Goodnight Dad" Troy said quietly hoping to avoid a confrontation.

"Good night Troy, are you running tomorrow morning?" his father asked clearly wanting to say more.

Troy stopped to consider, it was late and he didn't want to get up early to run but it might be a good chance for them to clear the air without worrying Gabriella or his mother. "Yeah I think I will, you?" he asked knowing that he would agree.

"Yeah I'll wake you up at six."

Troy groaned "Sure thing Dad, I better get some sleep then. Night" Troy went to his room and climbed in next to a sleeping Gabriella.

A/N: Thanks to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, wildcats2016 and iminlove13 for your support.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Monday, December 9th

Troy rolled out of bed with a groan when his father knocked on the door at 6am the next morning, calling to let his father know that he was up before he opened the door. He was still wearing his running clothes from when he pulled them on to go to his mother last night so he quickly put on his shoes, wrote Gabriella a short note and headed downstairs to greet his father.

"Shall we head east and through the park?" he asked mentioning the significantly shorter of their normal routes.

"Feeling tired Troy." His father asked concerned.

"Yeah well yesterday was pretty stressful, but there's less people on those paths and I thought you might appreciate the chance to yell at me in private. We could stop and play on the old courts back there rather than wake mum up" He didn't mention Gabriella not knowing if his father was aware she had stayed the night.

Jack laughed slightly "Well I don't plan on yelling."

Troy smiled slightly "That's good to know, but it doesn't mean that you won't. Dad I never intended to hurt you or Mum, I just did what I had to do to keep Gabriella safe." He looked his father in the eyes, wanting him to understand that he would stand by his decision no matter what it may cost him.

After a moment Jack gave a quick nod before he grabbed a ball and they began running.

They ran in silence until they got to the courts, Jack setting a punishing pace, and they both took a moment to get their breath back before beginning to play.

"Did you get married just to keep Gabriella safe or to keep Gabriella for yourself?" Jack asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"Mostly to keep her safe Dad, I wanted her to always be mine but if she'd been happy then I would have let her go if she wanted me to no matter how much it hurt. But she was miserable, even with the idea of going into hiding she was terrified her father would find her. I couldn't stand to see her scared and hurting like that. She would have spent the next eighteen months looking over her shoulder afraid that everyone she met could be working for her father."

"I'm worried though Troy. Gabriella had to get married no matter what you did, and I understand that for her to marry you was the best thing for her, but I'm worried that maybe it wasn't the best thing for you. I'm worried that her desperation to avoid marrying a stranger has pushed you into something you're not ready for." Jack was hesitant to argue with his son having understood how determined Troy was to have everyone accept his marriage to Gabriella, but he had to get some reassurance that Troy had thought about all of this thoroughly and made the decision with his brain not just his emotions.

"Dad she didn't know I'd found that permission from. She didn't know that marrying me was even a possibility until I proposed. She didn't push me into anything" Troy defended his wife, trying to hold on to his temper.

Jack quickly backtracked wanting Troy to calm down and listen to his point of view "Well I'm relieved to hear that, but it is not exactly what I meant. I know you're sure that Gabriella didn't manipulate you into proposing but the situation did. Before all this marriage contract stuff came up can you tell me honestly that you had thought of proposing?" Jack stared his son in the eyes demanding a truthful answer.

"I'd thought about it, but it seemed too soon, not so much for me but for Gabriella. But I was saving up to buy her a promise ring" Troy admitted.

"So before this all happened, when had you pictured proposing?" Jack asked.

"I was going to give her the promise ring for our anniversary this year, and then an engagement ring maybe for our fifth anniversary in our final year of college. Gabriella wants to go to law school after college so depending on whether I could get a decent job near her school maybe we could get married about a year after graduation" Troy explained his original plan.

"So you had thought seriously about marrying Gabriella in the future, but you are now nearly six years ahead of that schedule." Jack stated still concerned.

Troy agreed sinking his shot to win their game. They headed back to the house at a more leisurely pace than normal.

"I know it's sudden Dad, but it was the right thing to do. We can make it work I know we can."

"I'm not quite that optimistic Troy, it's not going to be easy being committed this young. But I will support you all I can. I take it Gabriella will stay with us once her mother leaves Albuquerque?"

"Yeah Dad, maybe before that too. Or maybe I'll stay with her and Maria" Troy waited anxiously for his father's response.

Jack nodded chuckling, "At least now you won't have to sneak in and out of the house in the middle of the night" he commented lightly.

Troy laughed too, slightly nervously, "I wondered if you knew about that, it seemed too good to be true that I'd really gotten away with it every time." He said relieved that his dad was laughing about him sneaking out instead off grounding him for it.

"I heard you a couple of times in the last fortnight or so, how long has it actually been going on for?" Jack asked teasingly, there was no point getting angry about it now. And in truth he could have stopped it when he first found out if he had truly wanted to. He'd been fairly sure Troy had been with Gabriella not out with his mates and had realized that if their relationship was as serious as he thought it was that grounding Troy would not have much effect other than alienating his son and forcing the couple into more compromising behaviour.

"Umm... are you sure you want to know?" Troy asked hesitantly.

"No I don't know that I am, but tell me anyway son" Jack replied slightly surprised at his son's reaction. At first he had thought that this was a new thing that had begun at the same time as Troy's depression less than a month ago, but now he wondered.

"Since we started going out last year. We would talk on the phone every night and then one night she was upset and I was worried about her so I went over to see if she was okay, and sometimes she would ask me to come if she thought I was upset and before and after games when I was really stressed out."

"How do you get in? I'm assuming that Maria doesn't know" Jack asked.

Troy shrugged "I'm not sure if she knew for sure or not, she's never confronted me, or mentioned it to Gabriella either that I know of. But when she kicked me out the day she told us about the marriage contract she locked the balcony door in Gabriella's room and took away the key. So she must have known I visited that way sometimes."

"What do you mean she kicked you out?" Jack asked surprised. "Did she catch you together? I thought she would have said something to your mother and I if she had."

"No it was nothing like that. I was there when she told Gabriella about the marriage contract. Gabriella collapsed in tears and cried herself to sleep in my arms and I wanted to stay and make sure she was okay but Mrs Montez wouldn't let me. I carried Gabriella upstairs and Mrs Montez came up and helped me put her to bed, then she locked the balcony doors and sent me home" Troy explained.

"Why?" Jack asked mystified as to why Maria had been upset over the actions Troy described. "Did you get into an argument with Maria? Lose your temper and say something stupid?"

"Not really, Mrs Montez said that if Gabriella was going to marry Eduardo it would be easier for her if we broke up straight away. She had some crazy idea that Gabriella could get over me before the wedding and then she would be happy married to a complete stranger." Troy said derisively.

"So how have you been getting into Gabriella's room lately because I know you haven't stopped going. Or has she been sneaking out to meet you somewhere?" Jack asked concerned that the couple had been taking stupid risks to be together.

"Gabriella had an extra key to her balcony door cut for me last year. She said it was so that I'd always know I had a place to go when I needed someone to talk to or just to know someone believed in me and would support me no matter what. I hardly ever used it until Mrs Montez took away Gabriella's key, I would always ring to warn her I was coming and she would open the door for me." He showed his father the key that hung on a leather cord around his neck.

Jack nodded recalling having seen Troy wearing the key the year before but not knowing the significance of it. He grinned to lighten the subject. "One more question, if this has been going on for so long without my knowledge, why have you been caught three times in the last fortnight?"

Troy laughed "Why didn't you try to stop me if you knew I was sneaking out?" Troy asked, before a thought occurred to him "So is that why you bought me condoms? Or did Mom know too?"

Jack laughed "No I don't think your mother knew you were sneaking out. You would have got lectures and tears from her not condoms." Troy grinned sheepishly and nodded.

Jack continued "If she knew then I expect she would have said something to me about it, and probably to you and maybe even Maria or Gabriella as well. You would both probably have been grounded if your mother caught you sneaking out at night. I certainly haven't told her. And yes that's why I bought you condoms. I knew I couldn't stop you from having sex if you wanted to. I was just grateful that you weren't doing it at school." Jack thought for a moment, "Or at least I hope you weren't. I spend my life working with teenagers Troy I know what they get up to and how they are likely to react to a parent coming the heavy and forbidding various activities. I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to lie to me about it. But you didn't answer my question. Why have I only heard you recently?"

"I don't know." Troy thought for a minute and added "I think probably because I was getting so tired, I've been going to Gabriella's almost every night so either I'm up until after one or so, or I fall asleep at Gabriella's and her alarm wakes me at five o'clock. I run home and get changed in time for you to 'wake me up' to run again. But Dad I wasn't... we weren't..." Troy wanted his father to know that his nightly rule breaking hadn't just been about sex.

Jack nodded and smiled at his son acknowledging that he understood what Troy had been trying to say.

"So you've been running to Gabriella's and back every day as well as all the training we do" he said changing the subject. "No wonder you were tired."

"Yeah, I'm glad I won't have to any more though. I don't think I could have kept it up much longer." he said as they entered the house and separated to get ready for school.

A/N:Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara, Pumpkinking5 and iminlove13 for your support.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical

Troy entered his room to find Gabriella looking ready to leave for school, sitting at his desk making a list.

"Good morning Beautiful" he greeted, "have you eaten?"

"Morning Troy, thanks for the note, No I will wait and eat with you."

"Okay Give me 10 minutes to shower and we'll go down" he replied grinning.

Five minutes later a much cleaner smelling Troy entered the room and came over to give her a hug before getting dressed. "What're you writing?"

I'm trying to work out whether we should keep our marriage a secret. She was looking at the lists and missed Troy's hurt expression.

"And what's the decision?" he asked trying to keep the sadness and insecurity out of his voice. Troy wasn't sure why he felt so hurt, he knew that keeping their marriage a secret was probably the sensible thing to do. He was sure that Gabriella hadn't meant to hurt him.

"I don't know. We need to decide this together Troy I was just trying to get my thoughts about it in order" she said handing him the lists.

He read through the list of pros and cons and immediately felt a little better. Gabriella wasn't ashamed of being married to him, she wanted to keep it secret to protect him. He picked up the pen and added his own thoughts to the lists before going to get dressed.

_Pros for telling everyone:_

_Too many people already know, someone will blab Chad_

_It will be better if we tell our friends directly than if they hear it from someone else_

_We can wear our wedding rings_

_We don't have to lie_

_It will stop girls from hitting on Troy God I hope so_

_**I don't want to be your secret**_

_**I'm proud you are my wife I want the whole world to know. **_

_**Less gossip and nasty comments when your mum leaves and people find out you've moved in with me.**_

_**Makes it less likely you will leave me and go into hiding.**_

_**Chad, Jason, Zeke already know – even if they don't tell anyone else they'll make lots of smart remarks that could be taken the wrong way if overheard.**_

_Pros for keeping it a secret: _

_I could still go into hiding if Mum thinks it's necessary __**Please don't leave me**_

_If I go into hiding Troy won't be hurt by Papa or Eduardo _

_We'll be the centre of attention._

_**No risk of jealous girls hurting Gabriella**_

Gabriella smiled as she read Troy's additions to the lists, it was obvious he didn't want to keep their marriage a secret and she hoped the suggestion hadn't hurt his feelings.

"We should ask Mum and Dad what they think too," he suggested "And Maria and maybe the others"

"Yeah that's a good idea, after all they're going to have to keep the secret too" Gabriella replied picking up her lists and going down to breakfast.

"Mum, Dad, is it okay if the guys come over for a quick meeting before school? We have a decision to make and they'll need to know what we decide before they get to school. We could use your advice too." Troy asked.

"Sure, ring your friends while I dish up" his mother replied sounding much more cheerful this morning.

They quickly rang the friends that had been at their wedding inviting them to a quick brainstorming meeting. Gabriella also rang her mother inviting her to dinner that night"

Lucille returned to the table with two plates of pancakes "Okay what do you need advice about?" she asked.

"About whether we should tell everyone that we're married or not" Gabriella answered handing her mother-in-law the lists she had made.

"Well speaking as a teacher I would much rather the students didn't know about the marriage, but as your father I think you would be better off if at least your friends know, and if they know then I'm sure everyone will know by the end of the day whether you want them to or not" Jack said having walked in just in time to hear Gabriella's question.

"Well some of our friends already know. We kind of kidnapped them to come and witness the wedding on Friday" Troy said laughing. "So I guess it depends who they've told, if Ryan told Sharpay or Martha told the other cheerleaders then it's already too late."

Lucille forced herself not to cry at the knowledge that Troy's friends had been trusted enough to attend his wedding and she and Jack hadn't been.

"Why would the teachers rather we kept it a secret?" Gabriella asked Coach curiously, relieved that he seemed to be okay with her being there.

"Fear of starting a trend mostly" Jack replied "As Basketball captain Troy's the king of the school now the seasons started. You might have noticed how many people dyed their hair black the week or so after Troy did last year, or for that matter how many girls now wear their hair and clothes like yours now."

Troy laughed you can't be serious Dad" he said

"I'm afraid I am, one of the most popular cheerleaders got married at Christmas about six or seven years ago, and by Easter several of the cheerleading squad, and a couple of the guys on the team had got married or engaged too. It was an absolute nightmare more than half of them were divorcing before graduation and it affected all of their grade point averages. The team fell apart because so many of them weren't able to be in the same room as the cheerleaders without fighting with their wife or ex-wife and most of them didn't get anywhere near the grades we had expected them to. Not to mention that one of each couple had compromised their plans and dreams to sign up to go to the same college when they'd first got married."

"Didn't any of them work out?" Gabriella asked shocked.

"As far as I know only one couple is still together, the cheerleader that started the whole mess, the girl that wasn't following the trend but had personal reasons for getting married. They seem quite happy, I saw them not long ago." He smiled at his daughter-in-law.

"Who was at the wedding?" Lucille asked.

"Chad, Zeke, Jason, Ryan, Taylor, Kelsi and Martha" Troy answered warily, aware this was a sore point with his mother. "We stole their phones and dragged them there without warning. They found out about the wedding about 10 minutes before it started" he explained exaggerating slightly.

Jack laughed, I would have loved to see Chad's face when you told him."

"Funny, he said the exact same thing about you" Troy replied dryly.

"Well there's no decision to make, between Jason and Chad the secrets already out of the bag" Jack said lightly, "Why did you want to keep it a secret anyway?"

"I don't know that we did" Troy answered cryptically getting up to open the door to his friends.

Jack looked at Gabriella and repeated his question. "Why did you want to keep it a secret?"

"Promise not to tell Troy?" she asked.

Jack and Lucille frowned and reluctantly nodded. "So long as not knowing isn't going to cause him harm" Jack qualified.

Gabriella nodded agreeing with Jack. "I'm worried about Papa and Eduardo hurting him mostly, but there are lots of girls at school that have been waiting for me to break up with Troy, they're all over him whenever he's alone especially the last few weeks when he couldn't always drive me to school because of Mum. They've been waiting for us to break up so they could get their claws into him. I'm a little worried about what they'll do when they find out."

"Troy really needs to know about your concerns, and your friends do as well Gabriella. Most of those girls will probably only make a few off colour remarks behind your backs, there are one or two I think you might be right to worry about, but it should settle down fairly quickly. You may be in for a rough couple of weeks but you will be better off in the long run if they know that Troy's not available. They are more likely to take it out on you than on Troy and if you're hurt because he didn't know about the risks then he'll never forgive us" Jack said seriously.

Gabriella sighed "Yeah you're right" she said "Troy needs to know."

"What does Troy need to know?" Troy asked quietly coming up behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders.

Jack looked at Gabriella who shrugged and then nodded. "You need to watch out for some of the more obsessed of your hangers on trying to hurt Gabriella" his father told him "I'll ask the other teachers to keep an eye out too."

"You really think they would?" Troy asked his father.

"I don't know. I've overheard several of the cheerleaders making plans for comforting you lately when it seemed that you and Gabriella were having problems. I doubt they will get violent but some of them can be pretty bitchy" his father replied.

Troy agreed and passed the warning on to their friends, who all decided to stick a little closer to Gabriella for the next few weeks.

Ryan blushed and added "At least Sharpay has given up on Troy, so I won't have to protect you from my own sister." The others all laughed uneasily remembering all the trouble Sharpay had caused over the summer.

"You do realise that everyone is going to suspect that you are pregnant when they hear about the wedding?" Lucille asked Gabriella quietly.

"And that you got pregnant on purpose to trap Troy?" Martha added.

"But I'd never do that!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I'm not like that!" she turned to her friends clearly upset.

"Shh Babe we know. Your friends won't think that. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks." Troy reassured her.

"It'll die down soon enough when you don't get fat" Jason added.

Martha reached across and hit him on the back of the head causing the others to laugh.

"Personally I'd like to see you put back on the pounds you've lost lately" Troy whispered quietly so Gabriella was the only one who heard.

Gabriella glanced at him uncertainly.

"Gabi you're gorgeous. You always will be perfect to me. But you did look a bit healthier a couple of weeks ago. If you want to stay at this weight that's fine but I don't want you to lose weight because you're too stressed out to eat properly."

"Actually Sharpay asked me last week if I thought you might be pregnant." Kelsi said to Gabriella, unknowingly interrupting their discussion.

"Why on earth would she ask that" Gabriella looked horrified.

"Well, I don't think she really believed it" Kelsi said thoughtfully. "She was trying to encourage me to think that you wouldn't be doing the spring musicale so that I'd write songs better suited for her voice rather than yours. She also said she thought you and Troy might be about to break up."

"To be honest Gabriella I wondered if you might be pregnant too." Taylor said nervously as Troy glared at her.

"Why?" Troy demanded angrily.

"Because you both seemed so stressed and unhappy and neither Coach nor Maria appeared to know what was going on. Troy was becoming even more overly protective of you than usual and I knew you hadn't been fighting or broken up. I couldn't think of any other explanation. Also it was obvious that you and Troy were still together at school, but Maria was driving Gabriella to school instead of letting Troy pick her up. And Gabriella always had to go straight home after school unless she had an official school activity. Troy had always seemed to get on well with your mum but all of a sudden she didn't seem to trust him at all. I wondered at first if she'd caught you in bed together, but as bad as that would be it wasn't bad enough to explain your reactions. Gabriella was far too worried and unhappy and she seemed to be becoming more anxious and upset as time went on."

"Not to mention that you'd both have been grounded for the rest of the year if you got caught like that" Chad teased, causing the others to laugh.

"Well for the record I am very definitely not pregnant. Nor am I planning to become pregnant anytime soon" Gabriella declared trying to ignore the way her friends and Troy's parents all sighed in relief.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

After much discussion, Troy and Gabriella decided not to try to hide their marriage, but not to make a public announcement either, they would go to school and act naturally, until other people noticed their rings. Gabriella expected it to take less than half a day.

Ryan excused himself and hurried back to his house to meet Sharpay. Now that he had permission to tell her about the marriage he thought it would be better for everyone if she didn't feel she had been left out of the loop. She would be an absolute nightmare if she found out via the school rumour mill. Luckily she had had a hairdressers appointment on the day of the wedding that she had been talking about all the preceding week, so Ryan didn't have to think up an excuse why she hadn't been invited to the wedding. He arrived back at his house just as Sharpay was getting into her car and quickly climbed in beside her.

"Sis, before you start the car there's something I need to tell you."

"What Ryan!" she huffed impatiently, "I'm meeting Zeke before class and I don't want to be late. I haven't seen him since School on Friday." She looked up at her brother frowning. "This isn't about Zeke is it?" she asked anxiously.

"No Sis, it's about Troy and Gabriella."

Sharpay sighed in relief "What about Troy and Gabriella? Have they broken up? They've been acting strange lately."

"No, they haven't broken up. In fact they got married on Friday." Ryan held his breathe hoping she wouldn't explode.

Sharpay burst out laughing. "Oh Yeah Right" she said as she calmed down "Now what did you really want to tell me?"

"Sis. I swear it's true, Troy and Gabriella got married on Friday after school, that's why none of the Wildcats were around Friday night. We all went over to Chad's and just hung out and talked trying to come to terms with it"

Sharpay narrowed her eyes and stared at her brother. "You mean to tell me they seriously got married... as in a wedding dress and bridesmaids... and flowers and cake and everything? Really forever married?"

Ryan chuckled at Sharpay's list of what would make a marriage legitimate. "Yes Sharpay really legally married, in a church with vows and wedding rings and everything."

"And they didn't invite me?" her voice rose shrilly clearly annoyed.

"They didn't invite anyone until the very last minute. They were afraid that someone would tell their parents and ruin everything." Ryan noticed the signs of imminent explosion and hurriedly added. "You rushed off to your hairdresser's appointment and then Troy all but kidnapped us to come along without any warning, we didn't even know where Troy was taking us or what was going on until we got there. They would have brought you along too if you'd been around. And you know you wouldn't have wanted to miss your appointment, you'd been talking about it all week" he reminded his sister, hoping she would accept his explanation and not take her temper out on him or on Troy and Gabriella. He silently prayed that Sharpay was genuinely as over her crush on Troy as she said she was.

"Oh! But why'd they have the wedding at the same time as my hairdresser's appointment?"

Ryan sighed. "Sharpay even though they hadn't told anyone until the last minute, they would have had to book the minister and the church and everything a while back, I'm sure they didn't intend it to clash with your hairdresser's appointment."

Sharpay huffed "I would have liked to go to the wedding." She said quietly.

"I know Sis, I wish you could have come too" Ryan agreed somewhat less than truthfully. If Sharpay had been there he would have spent the whole ceremony worrying about whether she would decide to throw a tantrum in the middle of the ceremony. And whether he could stop her in time to keep her from ruining his friend's wedding.

"Tell me what was she wearing? Did she have a proper wedding dress? And a veil? And did Troy wear a Tux"

"Well Gabriella did look gorgeous" Ryan began "but no she didn't wear a veil, and the dress was pale blue with crystal beading and a calf length chiffon overskirt." Ryan smiled a little as he pictured them in his mind. "Troy had a Tux. A really old fashioned one I think he borrowed it from his Dad or maybe even his grandfather, but it looked good on him. They both looked so happy, and so in love. It was a beautiful ceremony."

"Who designed the dress? Did she have a bouquet? Did she throw it? Who caught it? Did you take pictures? How did she have her hair?" Sharpay held her hand out expecting Ryan to hand over his phone to show her the photos.

"No I don't have any photos, Troy stole all our phone's until after, so no one could ring Coach Bolton or Mrs Montez" Ryan explained.

"No Pictures! You can't have a wedding without pictures!" Sharpay exclaimed appalled.

"There was a photographer there so Troy and Gabriella should have pictures to show everyone soon" Ryan reassured his sister. "Now don't you think we should get going, we're going to be late" he reminded her.

Sharpay gave a small shriek as she saw the time and took off down the drive with her tyres squealing.

"You never told me about the bouquet." She reminded her brother as he held on for dear life.

"Gabriella did have flowers, Troy brought red roses for her, but it wasn't a proper bouquet and she didn't throw them. There was a cake too, Zeke had made but it was very plain because he only knew that Troy had asked for a cake not that it was going to be a wedding cake."

"Did they have a big party? I would have thought I could go to that I'd have been back from my appointment by then" Sharpay pouted.

Ryan rolled his eyes at his sister's self absorption. "They didn't have a party at all. We went and had pizza while they explained why they'd got married, and then they left and the rest of us went to see a movie and hang out. Honestly Troy and Gabriella had left by the time you would have finished with your hairdresser's appointment."

"Did they go somewhere glamorous for their honeymoon? When will they be back?" she asked imagining Hawaii or the Bahamas.

"I don't know where if they went anywhere they didn't say anything about a honeymoon, but I know they're back. They'll be in school today. See there's Troy's truck" he pointed out to her sister as they arrived in the school car park.

No one took any notice as Troy and Gabriella arrived at school together, Troy had always picked up Gabriella until recently so the only people taking note of their entrance together were the few girls that had noticed them arriving separately several times in the past fortnight and were planning to offer 'comfort' to Troy next time it happened. They greeted their friends and surrounded by them stopped by their lockers and headed to homeroom.

It wasn't until the practical part of chemistry just before free period that anyone noticed Gabriella's ring. Even then the students only really noticed the diamond and overlooked the accompanying wedding band. "Wow! Where did you get that?" her lab partner asked a little too loudly.

"Is there a problem girls?" asked the teacher as she came over to them.

"No Ma'am I was just admiring Gabriella's new ring" said Stacey.

"Yes Yes very nice now back to work, gossip on your own ti..." The teacher said glancing quickly at Gabriella's hands. She stopped shocked as her mind registered just what she was seeing This was no cheap promise ring like she had expected it to be but a very expensive looking full wedding set. Surely her brightest student couldn't have done something so foolish. But as she thought about it she realised that it would explain Jack Bolton's worried expression as he had circulated speaking to various staff that morning.

"Did Troy give you that?" Stacey whispered once the teacher had moved away.

"Yes" Gabriella replied smiling, not offering any details.

At the end of class the girls gathered round to see the new ring that had sparked the disturbance in class. "Wow is it an engagement ring?" one girl asked.

"Don't be stupid" someone snapped nastily "Troy's not going to tie himself down like that, he could do so much better than a geek like Gabriella"

"Gabriella's way too smart to get engaged at this age." Someone else said.

"Actually it's a wedding ring" Gabriella said quietly looking up to see Troy in the doorway waiting for her.

She smiled at him still surrounded by gossiping girls and taking the hint he announced himself "Excuse me ladies, if I could have my wife please." He grabbed her other hand and pulled her gently from the room. "Let's get out of here before they get over their shock" he whispered kissing her cheek.

"I've got decathlon training in the library. Don't you have practice?" Gabriella asked him.

"Yeah I've got to go, but not until I know you're safe" Troy answered as they walked towards the library.

Gabriella shook her head in exasperation but relented as he smiled at her. "Very well then Sir if you insist on escorting me to classes like an old fashioned suitor then you should be carrying these" she said as she handed over a heavy pile of books and took his hand to allow him to walk her to the classroom the decathlon team used. Troy laughed and carried the books to the classroom entering to put them on the table before bowing and kissing Gabriella's hand in a dramatic farewell to the amusement of the other Decathlon members. Leaving Gabriella with Taylor and the decathlon team he ran back to the gym and hurried in to change for practice.

Entering the locker room he was immediately accosted by the members of the team that hadn't been at the wedding. After a few minutes of defending his decision to marry he yelled "Okay listen up. Yes it's true I got married, but we're all late for practice. Do you really want to piss coach off the day after he found out that his son eloped?" He asked the team.

With that they all paled, shook their heads rushed out to training except for Chad.

"Dude is everything okay? Coach seemed cool about it this morning?" Chad worriedly questioned his friend.

Troy smiled reassuringly at his best friend. "Yeah we talked it out this morning, and he's okay with it for now. He understood why I had to do it, I think. But I know he was up half the night shooting baskets to try and calm down before he said anything, so he's probably tired and grumpy, and just cause he's okay with the wedding doesn't mean I'm ever going to get away with being late for practice" Troy replied as they ran out to join the team.

"Bolton, Danforth you're late" Jack yelled as they entered the gym.

"Sorry coach" Troy and Chad muttered in unison.

"Okay you can all start with some suicides 10 to start with, more if I see anyone not trying. Get going." Jack had overheard the commotion and knew exactly why Troy was late which was why he had the whole team running suicides, not just the two who'd been tardy. The rest of practice ran smoothly as nobody wanted to anger their coach.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcat2016, Kiara, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13 and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of High School Musical or its characters

The rest of the day passed slowly with Troy and Gabriella protectively surrounded by their friends as much as possible and being stared at and gossiped about constantly. Troy took it in stride, it had always been that way for the basketball star, but Gabriella hated it. Troy was late to all his classes due to his determination not to leave Gabriella alone in the hallways, but luckily the teachers having been warned by Jack were lenient issuing scoldings instead of detentions. Finally it was the end of the day and after several hours of basketball and decathlon training respectively, the newly married couple headed to Gabriella's to collect her some more clothing and start their homework while waiting for Gabriella's mother.

Maria walked in and seeing the two of them hard at work in the dining room smiled and went to fetch Troy a snack she had hidden in the cupboard. She had baked the night before and knew he loved her brownies.

Troy looked up as she walked in with the delicious smelling treat. He smiled as she handed it over to him. "Thanks Mrs Montez, but you don't need to bribe me to forgive you. I know you were doing what you thought was best for Gabi" he said quietly.

"I'm glad you know that Troy but the point is I was wrong. I owe you an apology. I underestimated you and I underestimated the depth of Gabriella's feelings. If you hadn't ignored my orders you both would have been miserable for a very long time" Maria said sincerely.

Troy finished his brownies and gathering up his books stood up "I'll leave the two of you to talk. See you tonight." He bent and kissed his wife before carrying his plate into the kitchen.

Maria followed him and said quietly "Thanks for bringing her today, Troy"

"You're welcome Mrs Montez. She wanted to come and I will never keep her away from you. Just please next time talk to us before assuming you know what's best. I love Gabriella with all my heart. I will do anything for her, always." Troy reassured his wife's mother.

Maria smiled at her new son-in-law, "I think you could call me Maria don't you. Now that I'm your mother-in-law."

"Okay Maria, I'll see you later" he surprised her with a quick hug on his way out.

Maria re-entered the dining room to find it empty, searching for Gabriella she found her in her room rearranging her closet. She knew that whichever option they'd taken that her daughter wouldn't be accompanying her when she moved at the end of the month but that didn't mean she was ready to see Gabriella moving out. "Are you packing to move in with Troy?" she asked quietly.

"Not exactly, I'm just sorting stuff out. I'm going to have to get the rest of my stuff back from Aunt Ginevra but it's easier to sort through what's in here first" Gabriella said distractedly.

"You're not moving in with the Boltons?" Maria asked concerned. Gabriella had told her on the phone that morning that things had gone well but if she wasn't moving in with Troy then maybe there were problems she hadn't admitted to. As much as she hated the idea of her daughter leaving home having her stay in these circumstances was even more worrying, how would Gabriella cope when she left if she wasn't truly welcome at the Boltons? And would Troy come to regret the marriage if it caused so much trouble between him and his parents. Her thoughts racing she almost missed hearing Gabriella's reply.

"Yeah, I will when you leave but Troy and I talked it over, because you are going away so soon, he wondered if you would like us to stay with you for a couple of weeks until you go" Gabriella said hopefully.

Maria sat on the bed as her knees went weak in relief. "Are the Boltons okay with that?" she asked wanting to be sure that there wasn't a problem with Gabriella staying with Troy's family.

"We were going to bring it up at dinner. It's up to you. Do you want us here?" Gabriella asked insecurely.

"I would love to have you both. I'm going to miss you terribly Gabi" she said with tears in her eyes, getting up to hug her daughter.

Gabriella threw her arms around her mother. "I'm going to miss you too Mum. Are you angry that I didn't go into hiding with Aunt Ginevra?" she asked.

"No Mija, a little disappointed perhaps, France would have been a great opportunity for you though spending eighteen months without being able to see you would have been extremely difficult. But then you could have come back and gone to Stanford as you had always dreamed of going." Maria was concerned that Gabriella would one day regret having given up the opportunity to go to Stanford, even if she did seem happy enough at the moment to stay in Albuquerque with Troy.

"I'm still going to Stanford Mum" Gabriella said surprised that her mother was thinking she wouldn't, she thought they'd discussed this the day before.

"What about Troy? After living with him for six months it will be even harder to leave him. And I know you said you don't want to consider early entry but what if you get offered a place in the freshman honours program?" Maria asked disbelievingly.

"Troy has already received a verbal offer for a full scholarship to Berkley Mum. The formal offer should come in the mail this week. He talked to the admissions people and they said we qualify for the married housing and that they have some flats available about half way between Berkley and Stanford. With no accommodation costs we'll be able to afford a second car so I can drive myself to school. I haven't told Troy about the honours program yet. There's no guarantee I'll get in. I guess we'll talk about it if it happens but I'm not going to worry about it till then, and it's only for three weeks so I'll probably accept if I they offer me a place" Gabriella explained.

"It sounds as though I have underestimated you both. You and Troy have thought this all through more than I realised." She paused for a moment.

"There's one other issue I need to know you've planned for. Are you using birth control? Do you need me to take you to the doctor?" Maria asked nonjudgmentally.

Gabriella gave an embarrassed giggle. "No thanks Mum. "Troy took care of that too."

"There are better options than condoms alone Gabi" Maria said worried. "In fact I would encourage you to keep using condoms as well even if you go onto the pill. I'll make an appointment for you tomorrow."

"No Mum that's not what I meant. Troy took me to the doctor." Gabriella said blushing.

"How, is that possible? You need my consent." Maria asked surprised.

"No I don't Mum, Troy's my husband, and he's of age. The doctor said that he can consent for me now too" Gabriella explained.

Maria looked taken aback; she hadn't considered this aspect of Gabriella's marriage. For a moment she felt sad and a little disoriented, Gabriella was no longer dependent on her. Her daughter was now legally Troy's responsibility instead of hers. She mentally shook her head and reminded herself that it was a good thing that Gabriella would still have a legal family member available in case she needed medical care while she was in Mexico. "Oh! I hadn't thought of that" she admitted. It must have been awfully embarrassing for you to talk to the doctor about this with Troy there though."

"Yeah it was a bit, but Troy made it as easier than I thought possible, he was really great. We'd already talked it over so he knew what I wanted to ask her; in fact he talked to the doctor when he made the appointment to make things more comfortable for me. And it was a female doctor so it was probably more awkward for Troy than it was for me. She was really nice about everything." Gabriella laughed and told her mum about the doctor pretending that it was Troy who received the shot. Maria laughed too relieved that her daughter wasn't risking a teenage pregnancy.

Gabriella quickly rang Troy to tell him that her mother did want them to stay with her until she left so that he could start packing his stuff, and then finished sorting through her clothes throwing out the things she's grown out of or no longer wore to make space for Troy's clothing. Because he would only be staying for a few weeks he probably wouldn't bring too much stuff but she wanted him to have his own closet space to help him feel at home.

Chad spent the afternoon at the basketball courts in the park where he and Troy had spent so many hours playing pickup games with friends. It felt a little strange to be there without Troy. Chad got several offers to join a game or to play a little one on one but uncharacteristically turned them down preferring to shoot hoops on his own. Like Jack this was his way of thinking things over allowing his problems to stew in the back of his mind while playing ball helped keep him calm. He'd played an awful lot of Basketball this weekend but it was only now after having spent time with Troy and Gabriella at school today and seeing that his best friend hadn't changed and still wanted to be his brother that he was able to accept that everything would be okay.

Friday had pretty much blindsided him. Getting married wasn't something Chad wanted to think about for himself for at least another ten years and until last week he would have said Troy felt the same. Hearing the conviction in his best friend's voice as he explained what was going on last Friday, the confidence that he was doing the right thing had allowed Chad to put his doubts aside to support Troy through the wedding as brothers were supposed to do. It was only later after saying goodbye to his friends when he was alone in his room that he realised that nothing would ever be the same. Chad had spent the weekend reminding himself that Gabriella was his friend, that she wouldn't try to come between him and Troy. He consoled himself that Troy had always had time to spend with Chad even though it was obvious he was seriously in love with his girlfriend. Having Troy call him this morning asking for his opinion and his help had been a huge relief.

Troy had been preoccupied most of the day trying to protect Gabriella from the potential backlash of his fan club, but Chad didn't have a problem with that. Their friendship had not only survived Troy's marriage but seemed just as strong as ever. Chad could now admit that crazy as it seemed getting married had been good for his friends and he was prepared to wholeheartedly support them any way he could.

Maria packaged up the rest of the brownies to take over to the Boltons for desert. She was a little apprehensive how Lucille and Jack would react though Gabriella had said that although they were shocked and clearly upset, they had treated her well, not blaming her daughter for the situation. That didn't mean that they wouldn't blame her though and she had to admit that having signed both the original marriage contract she was responsible for the situation that had led to their children's decision to marry, though she couldn't have predicted this outcome at the time. And if they realized..."

She hoped they could work through any issues that arose; she had developed a very good relationship with Troy's parents over the last ten months and hoped that it could continue. The young couple would need all of their support over the next few years. A continuing fight between their parents would put a lot of extra stress on their marriage.

Gabriella and Maria arrived just as Troy was setting the table and Gabriella quickly moved to help him. The young couple conversing in soft tones as Gabriella told Troy about her time with her mother. The senior Boltons greeted Maria and Gabriella warmly and Maria went through into the kitchen to deliver the brownies and offer to help with dishing up.

A/N: thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

After a harmonious dinner, where all conversation about marriage, college and living arrangements had been studiously avoided, over coffee Troy brought up the discussion of where they would live. "Mum, Dad, Maria has invited us to stay with her for a couple of weeks until she moves. Then if it's all right with you, we'll move back here until the end of school."

"I would also like you to come and spend a few weeks with me in summer wherever I will be, before you move to California, and to visit for a weekend during spring break if I am somewhere accessible." Maria added.

Lucille nodded "That seems fair. But what are your plans for over Christmas, are you still going to Cuba to see Gabriella's father?"

"No I don't think that would be wise. I haven't made any other plans yet but it would be better if we aren't at home after he realises that we aren't coming" Maria replied.

"Are you saying that Gabriella should still go into hiding with her Aunt?" Troy asked worried.

"Well, I would have liked her to have the opportunity to see France and Spain, but no to be honest I don't think it is necessary. Once the wedding date on the 28th of December has passed then she should be safe enough here in Albuquerque."

"I don't understand. What difference would that make?" Gabriella asked confused.

"Gabriella's father Alejandro is a very proud man. I would expect Alejandro and Eduardo will both be planning to use the wedding as a possible opportunity to make new connections and increase the profile of their businesses. The wedding invitations have already been sent and all his friends will be arriving expecting there to be a wedding. It will be quite an embarrassment for him as well as for Eduardo if it has to be cancelled at the last minute. Especially as due to the date they set many people will probably come to the wedding directly from their Christmas celebrations and not all of them will be able to be contacted about the cancellation before they arrive in Campechuela. I believe that Alejandro will do whatever he can to avoid the embarrassment of having people know he has such a disobedient daughter who refuses to marry the man he has chosen for her. But after the 28th no matter how angry he is about the situation, the embarrassment will have already occurred it will be too late to really do anything about it. Forcing the marriage to occur after that will not help Alejandro to save face, and Eduardo isn't likely to want to marry a woman that all of his friends and acquaintances already know is unwilling. With the changes in society over the last ten years arranged marriages are much less common even in Cuba and having all his business contacts know that he forced a young girl to marry him will do more harm than the alliance with Alejandro is worth."

"Are either of them likely to seek revenge?" Lucille asked hesitantly.

"I don't believe so. Alejandro will possibly write Gabriella out of his will and refuse to ever see her again but he's not a violent man. He may have been able to make life difficult for them, myself and possibly you if we moved in the same business circles as he does but he's unlikely to have much influence here. Gabriella has pointed out to me that I don't actually know what type of man Eduardo has become but I don't think he has the power to do anything without Alejandro's support. And Eduardo hasn't seen Gabriella since she was a child, there's no emotional attachment. To him this will be more like a business deal falling through than the breaking of an engagement."

Gabriella shuddered at the thought of what she had escaped.

"That doesn't mean it won't be a serious blow to his pride" Jack pointed out.

Maria nodded conceding the point.

"So where are you going to spend Christmas?" Troy asked, changing the subject with a concerned glance at his wife who smiled back at him reassuringly.

"Well my sister Ginevra will be in France and the rest of my family are planning a trip to Cuba for the wedding. Unfortunately I can't let any of them know to cancel their plans until after I finish work and Gabriella finishes school and we have left to go into hiding until after the date of the wedding. Even then it may be too dangerous to risk contacting them until after the wedding date has passed. It would probably have been a bad idea to stay with any of them anyway as Alejandro must have all their addresses for them to have received the wedding invitations. They would be the first places he would look after realizing we weren't in Albuquerque. We will probably find a small motel in an out of the way place somewhere that will accept cash. I don't want to make definite plans in advance."

"We are going to stay with my sister's family for the week leading up to Christmas and then to Jack's brother and his family on Boxing Day until the 29th before spending New Year in Tucson with friends. You and Gabriella are welcome to join us I'll ring and make the arrangements." Lucille offered.

"I couldn't impose like that" Maria protested.

"Nonsense. You and Gabriella are family now. Besides I can see Troy planning to go with Gabriella anyway and I'd rather have you come with us than worry about what may be happening with the three of you hidden somewhere alone out of contact."

"Are you sure your families will have room" Maria asked sceptically.

"Christmas is always a bit of a squeeze with the whole family there, but the more the merrier my sister Denise always says. She'll find the room for you somehow" Denise reassured.

"Yes and I'll tell you now that it is a total madhouse." Jack said with a grin before his wife slapped his arm.

"I'll warn you now Troy so you're not disappointed, you will probably still have to camp out in the barn with your cousins and Gabriella will share either with her mother or the girls in the attic, there won't be enough rooms for you to have one of your own" Lucille said.

Troy laughed "Yeah I figured that, it will be great just not to be separated completely. Please come with us Maria." He begged his mother in law.

"If both your families don't have any objection then I'll be delighted." Maria replied smiling.

"I'm sure they won't but we'd better ring them right away, before it gets too late" Lucille said getting up.

"I'll call Dave and Rebecca" Jack added taking out his mobile, "are we warning them in advance that Troy is married?"

"I doubt they'll believe us but you can try?" Lucille said wryly. She and Jack each left the room to make their calls in private.

Maria turned to Troy after the senior Bolton's had left the room "Are you really okay with us crashing your Christmas like this?" she asked.

"Are you serious? It's a great idea. Mum was right I would have gone with you. This way we can be together and still have a proper Christmas."

"So who will be there? Tell me about them all again so I'll know who's who" Gabriella asked him smiling at his willingness to include her and Maria into his family.

Troy launched into a description of his relatives, telling Gabriella and Maria anecdotes from previous family gatherings that had his audience laughing.

Lucille and Jack soon returned. "All set. They're expecting the two of you" Lucille reported, "Though I'm not sure they believe you actually got married Troy, so be prepared for some serious interrogation."

"After telling you and Dad and Maria it'll be a walk in the park" Troy replied with a cheeky grin.

The three parents laughed.

"Will they believe us though?" Gabriella asked him.

"Mum's family will when they see the rings" he assured her "They know I'd never use Grandad and Grandma's ring to pull a prank. Dad's family maybe not at first, Dad and Uncle Dave joke around and constantly try to prank each other but they'll believe it in the end when we don't announce that it was a joke before we leave."

"It would help if you had some wedding photos young man" said his mother in a stern voice.

Tory put his hands up as if warding off blows "We'll have some by then I promise. We have an appointment with Mrs Anderson to see the photos next Wednesday at 7 o'clock."

"Who is Mrs Anderson?" Maria asked not having heard this part.

"The wife of Reverend Anderson who performed the ceremony, she's a fairly serious amateur photographer and she came to the wedding with her husband to be a witness in case we couldn't persuade our friends to come. She took a lot of photos and we are going to look at them on her computer next week. She's offered to print some up for us if we pay for the cost of the materials."

"Would you like to come?" Gabriella asked both mother's, aware that they were still upset at having missed the wedding even though they understood the necessity of it.

Lucille smiled at her new daughter's thoughtfulness "I'd love to" she exclaimed.

Maria sighed "I would have loved to see them but I think it's best that I don't officially know anything about the wedding just yet."

"Will it cause problems for Troy to stay with us then?" asked Gabriella.

"No I'm probably just being overly paranoid. I'll make a show off making up the bed in the guest room and if we all make sure the lights in that room are turned on and off and the curtains are opened and closed as if someone's using it I'm sure it will be fine. I don't actually know that anyone's watching but it's best to continue to be cautious, it's only for a fortnight."

"I'm sure I would have noticed anyone watching the house" Troy said without thinking.

Maria and Lucille rounded on the young couple "And just what do you mean by that young man?" his mother asked at the same time as Maria said "How were you in a position to notice, I banned you from the house weeks ago."

Gabriella looked at the floor unsure of how to answer but Troy looked raised his chin and looked his mother-in-law in the eye. "Yes" he acknowledged quietly "But I couldn't stay away when Gabriella was hurting. We needed to be together. I know you were trying to protect her but you were wrong."

Maria's tone softened "Yes I'll admit that. I underestimated the two of you. But I locked all the doors how have you got in if you've been visiting Gabi at night you can't have come in the front door surely?"

"Gabriella had a second key cut for me a while ago" Troy said showing her the key around his neck.

"To her balcony door?" Maria clarified.

"Yeah. I never needed to use it until you took the original though. And I didn't sneak in without Gabriella knowing except once to leave her a present." Troy said wanting Maria to know he hadn't taken advantage of Gabriella.

Maria looked at them both in exasperation "I don't know what to say"

"You mean to tell me you've been sneaking out at night? Just how often are we talking about young man?" Lucille asked angrily. Jack kept quiet hoping that his wife didn't find out that he'd known Troy was sneaking out at night recently and hadn't tried to prevent him.

"Almost every night for the last month." Troy admitted quietly hoping his mother wouldn't ask when he started sneaking out.

Lucille looked about ready to explode "And how are we supposed to protect you when we don't even know where you are?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry Mama, but Gabriella needed me." Troy said as if that was the only thing that mattered.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, Kiara and Winterzkisses for your support.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Maria decided to try to diffuse the situation. "Getting back to Christmas plans where exactly are we going and which flights are you booked on, I'll need to book straight away."

Thankfully the distraction was successful. "We were planning to drive, Jack's car will fit us all though it will be a little squeezy or you could follow us if you wanted a little more independence."

"That's good that you're driving, that way no-one can find us by checking the flight bookings. I think it would be better to leave my car here in case they can trace it. Eduardo does legally still have partial custody of Gabriella. I'll happily share the driving and pay for the extra petrol to take both of your cars though if you would like."

"Gabriella and I could take my truck." Troy offered.

"Troy your truck is just not reliable enough" his mother replied laughing at the idea "but it's a good idea to take my car as well as Jack's. We leave on the 21st and spend the night at Cheyenne Montana. We have two rooms booked I'll ring the motel in the morning to see if we can book a third but they're likely to be pretty full."

"Hey don't diss my truck" Troy protested to deaf ears.

"We'll manage, I just don't want to put you out" Maria said apologetically.

"If there's not an extra room you'll have to have Troy's, he can sleep on the floor in our room" Lucille said with a smile.

"Can I ask why you are driving instead of flying?" Maria asked.

Lucille blushed "well that's my fault I don't like to fly if I can avoid it." She explained. "I have trouble with my inner ears and flying leaves me feeling out of balance for days.

"Well it works in our favour, airline tickets would have to have our names on them, by taking your cars and using cash instead of credit cards we will be completely untraceable unless someone follows us as we leave Albuquerque." Maria reassured her cheerfully.

Troy went upstairs to pack some clothes for the next few days, taking Gabriella with him. Maria turned to Jack and Lucille and asked quietly. "Are you truly all right with all of this?"

"Well I can't say I'm not disappointed that they got married so young, and I'm especially upset to have missed the wedding. But I'm not really surprised that they acted as they did in these circumstances" Lucille replied. "I just hope they don't come to regret it."

Maria nodded then looked over to Jack.

Jack sighed heavily, "I am worried about both of them more than anything. I've taught several married students over the years and most of the time it ended very badly. The stress on those two will be incredible."

"What about you? How are you coping with everything?" Lucille asked.

Maria smiled sadly and said "The situation is a little different for me. I've known for many years that Gabriella would likely be married at sixteen. I tried to keep moving so Alejandro wouldn't be able to find us, but that was hurting Gabriella too. She didn't even attempt to make friends at the last few schools she went to. I had hoped we could settle down and she could be a normal teenager for a while without being found. I'm sorry that you got dragged into this but I must admit that Gabriella has a much better chance of being happy married to Troy than she would have had with Eduardo. I like Troy and I have no doubt he loves my daughter as much as she loves him, but it takes a lot of maturity and compromise to make a marriage work. I hope they can do it."

"So you did deliberately sign that consent form and leave it for us to find?" Troy interrupted as he walked back into the room.

"WHAT!" Jack yelled "you set it up for this to happen?"

"Relax Dad I knew it was possibly deliberately set up."

"Did Gabriella know about all this?" Jack demanded.

"No Jack, Troy, I promise you that she didn't know. I signed the consent form and hid it well so that it would take a lot of searching to find the case and the key needed to unlock it. I just wanted to try to give her a way out if she was determined enough to look for one. Even if she did find it I was fairly sure she wouldn't show you, Troy, unless you were already involved in helping her try to find a way out of the marriage to Eduardo. I didn't know until yesterday that she had found the form."

"She didn't. She found the contract just before I picked her up one morning and grabbed all the papers with it to show me. I was the one to find the consent form among them later."

"How can you be sure of that Troy" Jack asked still angry.

"I am sure Dad. Gabriella was surprised when I proposed, she had no idea it was possible."

"Troy..."

"No Dad, I believe Maria, Gabriella wouldn't trick me like that. And it doesn't make any difference anyway I love her, and I'm glad I married her" Troy said firmly.

Gabriella entered the room in tears having overheard the end of their argument on her way downstairs after using the bathroom. "Troy I swear I didn't..."

Troy hurried across and wrapped his arms around her "Shh. I know Babe."

"Coach, Mrs Bolton please believe me I would never do that to Troy. The wedding was truly his idea. I didn't know anything about it. I was just as surprised when he proposed as you were yesterday"

Seeing Gabriella's genuine distress, Jack knew he had been wrong to accuse her. He noticed that Lucille was glaring at him too and he quickly apologised. "I'm sorry Gabriella I should have known better."

"What made you think I might have planned it?" Maria asked curiously.

"It was the wrong form" Troy explained. "Gabriella and Eduardo were going to be married in Cuba, not here in Albuquerque. There was no reason for you to even have a consent form for Gabriella to get married in New Mexico, let alone a blank signed copy." Troy ran his hand through his hair and sighed "Even with the form it nearly wasn't enough. The court clerk wanted you to come in and consent in person before the wedding. It was only because I'd met Reverend Anderson and told him the whole story that he agreed to marry us without you being there. He was actually the one who pointed out that the form was the wrong one. I think he was expecting me to break down and confess that we'd forged the signature. It was only after that when he could see that I was genuinely confused by it instead of trying not to look guilty that he agreed to do the wedding." Troy smiled at the memory.

Salt Lake City

Dave Bolton hung up the phone and turned to his wife. "Jack's starting early this year" he told her with a grin.

"What do you mean?" Rebecca asked only half listening.

"Jack just asked if we would invite Troy's 'wife and mother in law' to visit with them at Christmas."

"What?" Rebecca was shocked, surely it couldn't be true, and Troy was too young to be married. But this was an odd sort of prank, and where on earth would Jack find someone willing to come and spend Christmas with strangers in attempt to trick them. Not to mention she couldn't believe that Lucille would go along with this nonsense. "You think this is his prank?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course it is. Troy's what 17. He can't possibly be married. Not to mention that we would have been invited to the wedding." Dave said dismissively. "And if you believe Jack, Troy's a shoo in for a basketball scholarship, Jack barely let him think about girls last time we saw them, much less have a serious girlfriend."

"Okay should I call Lucille tomorrow or prepare for two extra guests just in case?" Rebecca asked sceptically.

"It'd be a pretty lame joke if they don't show up with anyone" Dave replied thoughtfully.

"But it's Christmas! Who on earth is going to spend Christmas with someone else's family just to help them pull off a prank?" Rebecca protested.

Dave nodded, "You have a point but I think you'd better prepare those rooms. Jack wouldn't have started this if he didn't have a follow through." He said as got up to return to his home office.

Rebecca shook her head in exasperation, Jack and Dave had always been very competitive with each other and their attempts to prank each other were going to go too far and cause serious trouble one day.

"But that means that they're going to let Troy share a room with this girl whoever she is. I can't see Lucille letting that happen, certainly not just for a prank" Rebecca said to herself "I'll call Lucille in the morning and get to the bottom of this."

"Yeah you do that" Dave said beginning to think about plans to try to make the prank backfire.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13 and "guest" (who I'm guessing from their sentence structure and review style is Pumpkinking5) for your support.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters

Tuesday, December 10

Lucille's sister Denise rang her sister early the next morning as she was about to leave for work. Denise had been seriously worried by her baby sister's call the night before but had honoured Lucille's request that she not call her until Troy and Jack had left for school.

"Lucille honey, are you alright? You seemed so upset last night and you said you couldn't talk, is this a better time or could you call me later, I'm worried about you." Denise was the eldest of Lucille's siblings, and was used to them turning to her in times of trouble. Lucille's abrupt call the night before had seriously concerned her. Not to mention the strange request to include Troy's wife and mother-in-law in their Christmas celebrations. Something was seriously wrong and this shouldn't have been the first she'd heard about it.

"Just let me call in to the office to check I don't have any early appointments booked and I'll call you back."

Lucille told her sister. This concerned Denise even more, since when did Lucille need help to know her schedule.

"Okay but you better call, or I'll be on my way down to see you" her sister scolded.

"No Denny I promise I'll call" Lucille laughed comforted by her sister's take charge attitude.

Confirming that she was free until eleven Lucille sat for a moment marshalling her thoughts then set the alarm on her cell phone for ten thirty, and called her sister.

"Okay I've got about an hour and I can talk freely now" she told Denise.

"Why don't you start be telling me more about last night, you didn't make any sense. You know that we'd be happy to have Troy's girlfriend come for Christmas and her mother too, but why did you sound so stressed by that? And why couldn't you explain it? Is Troy in some sort of trouble?" Denise asked gently.

"Well I couldn't talk last night because Maria was here and waiting to hear if it was alright for her to come with us, and I needed to confirm with Dave and Rebecca and then Robert and Sandra as well before it got too late to call." Lucille explained.

"So they'll be with you the entire holiday that's unusual, what's going on? Don't they have family of their own they want to visit?" Denise asked.

"None that will be available. They are coming with us to hide from Gabriella's father in case he comes looking for them. If you hadn't agreed to include them they would have hidden in whatever small hotels that would take the three of them without reservations, moving around avoiding all contact" Lucille explained.

"You said the three of them? Did you mean that Troy would have gone with them if couldn't come to Christmas with us? And you and Jack would have let him go?" Denise asked disbelievingly.

Lucille sighed "Yes Troy would have gone with them, there's no way he would have let them go into hiding on their own." Denise was shocked by the resigned acceptance she heard in Lucille's voice.

"Now I'm really worried. Are they in trouble? Is it safe for you to bring them here? What on earth's going on?" Denise wanted to help her sister but with all the family present for Christmas she didn't want to put her own family at risk.

"It should be perfectly safe. They're not hiding from the law, and they'll travel up with us so there should be no way to trace them to Montana and we intend to leave Albuquerque before any one has reason to start looking for them at all." Lucille soothed her sister desperately needing her to agree to host Gabriella and Maria for the holiday so she didn't have to spend Christmas away from her son.

"What's going on, what sort of trouble are they in? And why are you doing so much to help them? Is Troy really so serious about this girl Maria?" Denise said her tone demanding explanations.

"Troy and Gabriella got married on Friday..."

"WHAT!" Denise shrieked.

"Troy and Gabriella eloped on Friday. They got married while we were in Wichita visiting Melissa."Lucille said flatly.

"So who's Maria?" Denise asked confused.

"Gabriella's mother."

Denise shook her head to clear it. "How well do you know these people? I've never heard you talk about Troy having a girlfriend."

"They've been going out since last January. Gabriella's a lovely girl. I'm sure I mentioned her when they first started being friends, she's the girl he did the Musical with last year."Lucille replied.

"The one Jack was raving about? The one he was sure would ruin Troy's chances of a scholarship and cost the team the championship?" Denise asked remembering having laughed with Lucille at her brother-in-law's ranting the last time she'd visited them for Lucille's birthday.

Lucille laughed at the memory her sister invoked. "Yeah that's the one."

"So if you're asking them to come for Christmas I suppose you are trying to support this marriage. But are you truly okay with it? And how is Jack reacting to this? And why on earth did they get married now with six months of high school to go? If she's a straight A student isn't she too smart for that? Are they having a baby?" Denise asked hoping she was wrong.

"No they both assure me they have no plans to have a baby until after college thank God. They got married because Gabriella's parents had signed a contract for an arranged marriage and her father was going to force her to fulfil the contract when they went home for Christmas, which is why they now have nowhere to go over the holiday and are in hiding until after the wedding was supposed to occur" Lucille explained.

"It sounds like a soap opera. Seriously Lucille surely there was another way out of this." Denise said horrified at the idea of her nephew being forced to give up his freedom to protect his girlfriend.

Lucille sighed "Yes I'm sure there possibly would have been. But it's too late now. Troy has made it quite clear, he loves Gabriella and she is his wife and interference in their marriage would not be tolerated. If we forced him to choose between us then we would lose him." Lucille sounded sad but resigned. "We've decided that there's nothing we can do now but offer support."

"So you're now trying to convince yourself that it's all okay. I know you Lucille, since you found out you would have been busy trying to calm Jack down and focussing on the bright side of things but I want you to be completely honest with me. How are you coping with this?" Denise asked concerned.

Lucille started to sob "I'm trying to be okay with it, to support Troy like he needs me to. I really do like Gabriella and I would have been happy for Troy if he wanted to marry her when they both finished college. But it's too soon. He's not old enough for all this. I'm so worried about them both. And not to have been there at my baby boy's wedding. It hurts Denise. I understand that he didn't want us trying to stop them, but I missed my Baby's wedding" she wailed.

Denise made comforting noises for several minutes until Lucille started to calm down.

"Why the need for all the secrecy you couldn't have done anything to stop it anyway, Troy's eighteen?" Denise asked.

"But Gabriella's not. If we knew then we would have told Maria and she could have stopped it" Lucille said. "Troy was right about that. As much as it hurts not to have been there, he couldn't tell us."

"But surely the woman must have known. If the girl's underage her mother had to have consented to the marriage" Denise said confused.

Lucille groaned "That's where it all gets messy. She signed a consent form without filling in the groom's details. And Troy and Gabriella found it and filled it in themselves."

"I don't understand!"

Lucille tried to explain. "Maria appeared to be going along with Gabriella's father's plan for Gabriella to marry one of his business partners at Christmas. Troy and Gabriella certainly believed that she was in support of the arrangement. The kids were both devastated and desperate to find a way out. They were looking for the marriage contract hoping to find a loophole or an exit clause Gabriella could use to get out of the marriage and they found a consent form half completed and signed hidden with the contract. Troy wasn't sure whether she'd missed filling in the groom's name on the forms by accident or not. After all she was planning on consenting for her daughter to be married, just not necessarily to Troy. It was only afterwards that they found out that Maria probably wouldn't have genuinely tried to stop them though she would have had to appear to either know nothing about their elopement until after the fact or to have tried her best to stop them and have failed through no fault of her own so that she didn't have to pay the penalty for breaking the marriage contract. It was best that they acted as they did, though it hurts that they had to exclude us. " Lucille gasped "I shouldn't have told you that. There could be serious financial consequences if anyone can prove that Maria had anything to do with Troy and Gabriella's being able to get married."

"You can trust that I won't tell anyone Lucille. How much is the penalty? Does Troy need help to pay it?" Denise offered.

"No thank heavens. Gabriella's name was never included in the potential penalties for withdrawing from the contract because she wasn't old enough to sign the contract when it was made so she shouldn't be forced to pay. It is Maria that is at risk and she says that she's fairly sure that her ex-husband and/or Gabriella's potential husband would be unable to prove that she knew anything about her daughter's elopement before it took place. Maria said that if her ex-husband and his friend try to sue Troy and Gabriella she will threaten to fight it in court and to go to the network talk shows if necessary to get Gabriella out of having to pay." Lucille reassured her sister. "Thank you for the offer though."

Relieved about the financial issues Denise returned to her worries about the relationship. "Do you really think they love each other enough to make it work Lucille?" she questioned.

"I know they're too young but they are incredibly supportive of each other and they've only had one major argument since they started going out in spite of the fact that their interests are so different. I hope it works out for them" Lucille said trying to think positive.

The alarm went off. "I must go I've got a client coming in soon" Lucille said getting up.

"I will talk to you again soon. Call me if you need me. It still all sounds crazy" Denise laughed a little. "I'll try to explain it all to the family, and we'll see you on the 22nd. I'll make sure Gabriella and Maria are made welcome here when they come if that's what you want. If you are supporting Troy's marriage I will try to make the rest of the family support them too but you can expect some intense questioning when you get here."

"Thank you Denny. I'll talk to you soon." Lucille rang off and went to wash her face and get ready for work. She felt better now she'd talked it over with her sister and had her support.

Troy and Gabriella walked in to homeroom slightly late on the Tuesday morning, all of the extra attention from the student body was making it impossible to arrive anywhere on time. They were constantly being accosted by students they barely knew either congratulating them or questioning their sanity.

"Sorry we're late Mrs D" apologised Troy expecting to be given a detention.

Luckily for them Mrs Darbus had been in the hallway earlier and seen the young couple attempting to make their way through the crowds and knew that it wasn't their fault they couldn't get to class on time.

"That's quite all right Mr and Mrs Bolton. I'm aware you're having more difficulties than most people negotiating the hallways today. Please take your seats. She read the regular announcements then added "and last but not least I would like to congratulate Mr and Mrs Bolton on having the courage to follow their hearts. To fly in the face of peer pressure and to choose to do what is right for them. I wish them all the best in their marriage."

Troy and Gabriella looked up at her in astonishment, they had received a lot of subtle criticism and disapproval of their marriage from all of the other teachers along with stern warnings that no allowances would be made for them because they were married. Ms Darbus was the first teacher other than Coach Bolton to show any kind of support.

Mrs Darbus confirmed her support of the two of them by letting them out a couple of minutes before the bell so they could make their way to their next class in peace.

Kelsi was keeping a sharp eye on Troy and Gabriella as she had since the day Troy had driven her home and promised that things would sort themselves out. She could see that in spite of the frustration of being mobbed everywhere they went both Troy and Gabriella were genuinely happier than they had been in a long time. Evidently their marriage was going well. She smiled to herself as she began composing duets for them for the upcoming musicale in her mind. She cornered Troy as he left Gabriella in the library. "Hi Troy, on your way to the gym?" she asked.

Troy laughed, "Yeah, Dad's a slave driver" he joked.

"I won't keep you then" she replied walking in that direction.

"Kels, is everything okay?" Troy asked worried.

"That's my line here Troy. Is everything really alright now?"

Troy smiled at his friend "Yeah Kels everything is great. It's all worked out."

"So no more secrets?" she demanded.

"No you know everything now." They arrived at the gym "Thanks for the protection" Troy joked entering the gym and hurrying to change for free period practice.

Kelsi was confused for a moment until she turned to find several cheerleaders glaring at her. "What?" she confronted them.

The girls turned away without speaking. Kelsi smiled and headed to the music room.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara, Pumpkinking5 and iminlove13 for your support.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical

Rebecca Bolton also rang Lucille at work that day.

"The reason I'm calling is to confirm the arrangements for your visit on Boxing Day" she stated not sure how to bring up what Jack had said to Dave about Troy bringing his wife.

"We should be there around 5 o'clock on the 26th and will be staying until the 29th so long as that suits you." Lucille replied not admitting that she knew that this was not why her sister in law had called.

"Yes that's fine but Dave said that Jack rang last night asking us to invite Troy's wife and mother in law. Is that for real or is it another of the boys' insane pranks?"

Lucille laughed at the exasperation in Rebecca's voice "You can't imagine how much I want to tell you it is a prank and then laugh at Troy jumping through hoops trying to convince you he really is married" She sighed, "but I really can't do that to Gabriella. It will be hard enough for the poor girl, meeting all the family and dealing with all the teasing and pranking."

"So it's true? Troy got married. Why on earth would you let him? He's far too young. Unless... Is Gabrielle expecting?" Rebecca asked hesitantly.

"Gabriella, and no she's not pregnant thank God. It's a long story but basically Gabriella's father had arranged a marriage for her to take place just after Christmas. She and Troy got married to avoid being separated." Lucille explained.

"And you and Jack let him do this? What about college? And I hate to say it but Basketball?"

At any other time Lucille would have laughed at her sister-in-law's reluctance to say the dreaded word. "Troy didn't give us any say in it, they didn't tell us until after the wedding. Troy's eighteen, he didn't need our permission to marry and he didn't ask." She said flatly.

"Oh dear. I don't know what to say. Is there nothing you can do?"

"I wouldn't dare try. Troy has made it very clear that this is what he wants. And that anyone trying to come between he and Gabriella would not be tolerated."

"How are you and Jack coping with all this?"

"It was a huge shock, but we are doing the best we can. Troy and Gabriella have moved in with her mother for the rest of this school term and then will live with us next term when Maria goes to Mexico with her job."

"What is she like?" Rebecca asked curiously wanting to know what sort of girl could have such an effect on her previously indifferent to anything but Basketball nephew.

"Gabriella? Honestly, I adore her, she is all I could ever want in a daughter in law, sweet, honest, thoughtful, kind-hearted, totally in love with Troy and very very smart. She's good to Troy and she brings out the best in him. I would have been extremely happy if they had come home from college in four years time and announced their engagement. It's just the timing of it all that I have a problem with. That and not being invited to my son's wedding." Lucille was determined to not let the family make negative judgements about her new daughter in law before they met her. She knew that Troy would be extremely angry if his extended family didn't accept Gabriella as his wife and part of the family.

Rebecca could hear that her sister in law was almost in tears and made an effort to lighten the subject. "Is that why you want to tell me that it isn't true. Are you in denial?"

"No I've accepted it as much as I can in such a short time. It's more that I want to punish Troy a little."

"But you don't want to punish this Gabriella too?" Now Rebecca was bursting with curiosity to meet this girl that Lucille defended and obviously liked in spite of the trouble she'd caused.

"Yes a little but this madcap idea originated in Troy's brain not hers, and denying their marriage and then turning Dave loose on her when she's already nervous about meeting all the family would be too mean. And we're coming to you straight from my family and then on to Troy's Godparents for New Year, so she'll probably be put through quite an inquisition as it is."

Rebecca winced at that "Yeah I certainly wouldn't want to be in her shoes" she said having met Lucille's very large and vocal family two years earlier when Lucille had hosted Christmas for all of them together.

Basketball ran late so Troy rushed through his shower after practice and headed to pick up Gabriella from the science room where the decathlon team were preparing for their meet instead of letting Taylor bring her home whenever she'd decided they'd finished. He stood in the doorway unobserved watching Gabriella work a problem on the whiteboard. Her neat writing may as well have been in Greek for all the sense he could make of it but he enjoyed watching her work.

Taylor finally noticed him standing there and frowned at him, not wanting to finish their session. "Go away we're busy" she hissed at him "Come back later"

Troy ignored her and sat down getting out his history textbook and beginning the assigned reading. Keeping his head down he was able to avoid Gabriella's notice and get a good proportion of his essay drafted before he lost interest and decided it was time to rescue his wife.

Taylor frowned at him again when he stood packing up his books.

"Taylor it's nearly six o'clock" Troy objected "They'll be locking up the school soon."

Taylor huffed and turned away from him.

"Okay everyone, time to finish up. Does everyone know what I want you each to brush up on tonight?"

The others groaned and sighed nodding to acknowledge they had the reading schedules she'd given them even if they were less than enthusiastic about the amount of self study she'd allocated them on top of their regular class homework.

Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand as soon as she'd finished packing her bag and dragged her out of the room. Gabriella laughed at his impatience.

"We're going to be late for dinner" he explained.

"Since when does that matter?" Gabriella asked amused.

"It's the first dinner we've had with your Mom since I moved in." Troy said quietly.

"Troy she won't mind if we're late, she may not be home yet herself. It was really sweet of you to pick me up but you can't wait for me like this every night, Taylor will have a fit."

"I know, I'll let her bring you home tomorrow. It's just practice ran late so I thought you'd be almost finished too by the time I was ready to leave." Troy didn't want to admit that he'd not felt comfortable arriving home to Marias without Gabriella.

A/N: Thanks to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters/

Wednesday, December 11

Troy was dreaming of making out with Gabriella in their special place, the rooftop garden at school. She was wearing that dress the floaty floral one he loved most and the wind was blowing it up giving him glimpses of her legs and bare bum. The combination of the demure pretty dress and the fact that in his dream she was not wearing any knickers had him hard enough to drive nails. A fact that Gabriella had not failed to notice. She undid his pants and pushing him to sit down straddled his lap causing his penis to brush along her core. He thrust slowly against her causing her to whimper and squirm increasing the friction between them, he whined in disappointment when Gabriella started to stand up, then moaned his desire as she sank down on him burying his shaft in to her hot channel she was so tight and wet. She sat motionless for a moment then started to slowly rock her hips grinding down on him. She quickened her pace kissing him passionately and her inner walls started to tighten around him as she reached her climax. Troy grasped her waist to assist her balance as he thrust up crying out her name as he filled her with his seed.

Gabriella woke hearing Troy moaning, she was worried that he was ill and called his name shaking him softly to wake him.

"Gabriella" he muttered as he arched his back and orgasmed, his boxers luckily catching most of the mess.

He woke up and stretched he was about to reach out and kiss Gabriella good morning when he noticed the wet sticky sensation in his underwear and realized what must have happened.

Groaning (no longer in a good way) he rolled away from her and went to climb out of the bed.

"Troy are you alright?" Gabriella asked not understanding his groans and slightly hurt that he'd turned away from her without their normal good morning kiss.

"Oh God" Troy groaned before answering. "I'm fine Baby" he said wondering if you could die from embarrassment.

Gabriella looked at him his whole body language screamed that he was not all right.

"Troy talk to me please" she begged.

Troy couldn't refuse Gabriella anything when she asked in that voice. He sat up swinging his legs out of bed hunching forward to hide the front of his pants while turning his head to face her. "I'm just feeling a bit embarrassed, I'll be okay."

"Embarrassed about what?" she asked sitting up and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Oh!" She said understanding the problem as she pulled her now sticky arm away. Then noticing Troy's dejected look she wrapped both arms back around his waist ignoring the mess. "Good morning Wildcat" she murmured in his ear.

"Morning Gabi, I'm sorry"

Gabriella was a little embarrassed but she could see that Troy was feeling completely humiliated so she tried to make it easy for him. "Why? The only thing to be sorry about is not kissing me good morning, there's no need to be sorry about this." She waved her arm then wiped it on her shirt. "Unless of course you were dreaming about someone else." She said knowing that wasn't the case having heard him call out her name.

Troy looked at her horrified "Don't even joke about that Gabi. Of course I was dreaming about you, I always dream about you."

"Well then what's the problem?" she asked practically.

"I lost control again. I know you didn't want to do anything while your mum could hear us. I hope we didn't wake her up" Troy said anxiously.

"No it's still very early I'm sure she's sound asleep, after all if she was such a light sleeper that this would disturb her then you never would have got away with climbing in and out the balcony window all the time." Gabriella rationalized, trying to calm Troy.

Troy laughed "Yeah you're right." He grasped the opportunity to change the subject "Did I ever tell you that Dad knew I was sneaking out the month before our wedding?"

"What! No! And he let you? How do you know?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"He told me when we were out running the morning after we told him about getting married. That's why he left me the condoms in the bathroom," Troy said grinning.

"He never tried to stop you?" Gabriella asked astonished, she had thought coach Bolton would have jumped on this as an excuse to limit the amount of time Troy spent with her. Especially if it was interfering with his sleep and therefore his energy levels on the basketball court.

"No Dad's a realist, and he's been teaching teenagers for a long time. He said that if we were having sex then he knew that stopping me from visiting you would only mean that we'd look for other ways and places to do it. He's caught quite a few couples at school over the years and he didn't want to catch us having sex at school or hear about other teachers complaining about catching us. If letting me sneak out at night stopped that then he was all for it. Of course that might have something to do with the fact that he'd have to suspend me from the team if he caught me at school." Troy laughed.

Gabriella blushed at the idea of having sex somewhere they could be caught like that.

Troy saw the shocked expression on her face and hastened to reassure her "Don't worry I promised Dad that we'd never have sex at school when he was around. I wouldn't want him to catch us anymore than he does."

Troy got up and collected clean clothing. "I'm going to shower, before your mum does wake up and catch me walking around the house like this."

"You're not going to run this morning?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"No your mum will be suspicious if I took two showers this morning and I can't really go out without one." Troy explained "besides by the time I take a shower it will be too late to run. I really am sorry if I embarrassed you"

"It's fine Troy don't worry about it" Gabriella answered as casually as she could, "I'm just surprised that it never happened before this when you stayed over."

To her surprise Troy turned scarlet "Well it did once couple of weeks ago but you wouldn't have noticed because I left while you were still sleeping." he explained blushing.

"You mean you ran all the way home from here with pants like that?"Gabriella asked amused.

Troy blushed again at the embarrassing memory. "I don't think it was quite this bad because I had boxers and sweatpants on" he said looking down at his very messy boxers. "But it was extremely humiliating running home with my hands over my crotch trying to hide the wet patch."

Gabriella laughed at the mental picture Troy's words had produced then hugged him worried that he'd be offended.

"You can laugh" Troy told her resignedly, "I must have looked pretty ridiculous. Luckily it was still fairly dark and I didn't see anyone around, so I think I got away with it."

Troy left the room to shower and Gabriella rolled over and tried to go back to sleep for another hour before she had to get up.

Troy came back and finding Gabriella sound asleep wanted to climb back into bed to cuddle. However knowing that he wasn't at all sleepy he had to admit that he'd probably be tempted to try to convince Gabriella to fool around, which he knew would end up making Gabriella upset with him for trying start something while her mother was home. With one last longing glance at the bed he sat down at Gabriella's desk and attempted to write his English essay.

When Gabriella woke at her usual time, Troy was lost in concentration, typing without pause. She decided not to disturb him and went to get ready for her day. Troy was still typing madly when she returned showered, dressed, and made up ready to go downstairs. She wondered for a moment if he was avoiding her and wandered across to read over his shoulder. Reading the fluent stream of surprisingly coherent and insightful thought related to their English assignment that Troy was producing she decided not to interrupt his work and went down to make them both some breakfast.

Unfortunately Troy had been aware of her approach and when she left without speaking to him he concluded that in spite of her earlier reassurances she must be offended about what had happened that morning.

He anxiously shut down the computer and followed Gabriella downstairs.

Maria was in the kitchen when Troy came down preventing the young couple from having a personal conversation. Troy was confused when Gabriella smiled happily at him kissing him on the cheek and handing him a plate she'd obviously prepared for him. If she hadn't been upset then why had she not spoken to him upstairs? He decided not to ask in front of Maria but happily gave Gabriella a hug and accepted his breakfast.

Rebecca again rang Lucille at work in her lunch break.

"Hi Lucille, how're you holding up?" Her sister in law asked.

"I'm okay I guess, I didn't realize how much I would miss Troy. He's only been gone since Monday but the house feels so empty." She answered sadly.

"Where's he gone? I thought you said they would be living with you and Jack?" Rebecca asked confused

"Yes they will be, but they are staying with Maria until Christmas, then with us next year when Maria goes away for work." Lucille explained.

"Well that's not so bad is it? He'll be back soon" Rebecca tried to reassure her.

Lucille sighed, "Yeah, I keep telling myself that but it isn't helping."

"Well maybe I can get your mind off it. I've been thinking about how to get the boys back for all these crazy pranks they pull each year" Rebecca said cheerfully.

Lucille chuckled in spite of herself. "And just how are you going to do that?" she asked sceptically.

"Not me, we are going to do this" Rebecca declared.

Lucille laughed "You are just as bad as the boys. So what is this plan you need my help with?"

"Actually it was your idea." Rebecca told her sister-in-law teasingly.

"What are you talking about?"Lucille asked baffled. "Don't go blaming your crazy scheming on me!"

"Well I didn't tell Dave that I spoke to you yesterday and he is convinced that what Jack told him about Troy's marriage is all a prank. So I thought, what if we continue to let him think that and don't say anything to either confirm or deny it. Jack will be trying all out to convince him and Dave will be busy trying to push Jack into confessing the prank. It should be hilarious" Rebecca explained.

"But I don't want to upset Gabriella like that." Lucille protested.

"Yes I know you said that yesterday" Rebecca reassured her sister-in-law, "but what if you warn her in advance, in fact she and her mother will need to be in on it for us to carry it off. Troy too maybe" she speculated.

"Yes we'll definitely need Troy to be in on it. Otherwise he will worry too much about Dave not accepting her into the family. He's very overprotective when it comes to Gabriella. And I can't imagine her keeping it secret from him either" Lucille said dryly.

"So you'll do it?" Rebecca begged hopefully. "I can get Evelyn in on it too so Gabriella would have some support from the family."

"I didn't realise Evelyn and Jim would be there for Christmas. Don't say anything to them yet I'm not sure if Jack or Troy has told them about the marriage yet."

"Okay I'll hang off talking to Evelyn until I hear from you but you'll agree to go along with it?"

Lucille thought for a moment without coming to a decision. It would be nice to pay Jack and Dave back for all the pranks they'd pulled over the years. But on the other hand she didn't want to do anything that would put stress on her relationship with Troy. "I'll talk it over with Troy and Gabriella tonight and see what they think of the idea" She said eventually "but I won't promise anything. It will be up to Troy. Like I said he's extremely protective of Gabriella and I don't want to risk him thinking I would do anything to hurt her. "

Sharpay marched over to Troy at lunch on Wednesday and loudly announced to the group that she had forgiven him for scheduling his wedding at a time she wasn't able to attend.

"What?" Troy asked confused why she thought his wedding had anything to do with her.

"I forgive you for having your wedding at the same time as my hairdresser's appointment." She explained to him slowly as if to a small child.

"Oh! Okay I'm sorry you couldn't come" said Troy lying to keep the peace. In spite of Sharpay's relationship with Zeke and Gabriella's close friendship with Ryan, neither Troy nor Gabriella truly trusted the blonde girl's declarations of friendship and they'd been glad she'd not been around when they invited the others to the wedding.

"Yeah Sharpay we missed you on Friday." Zeke added. "You would have loved the cake I made Troy and Gabriella."

Sharpay took that as an invitation to sit down and started grilling Gabriella about the details of the wedding, criticising their lack of wedding photos.

Gabriella sighed and started answering Sharpay's questions while the rest of the gang rolled their eyes at her.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, iminlove13 and Winterzkisses for your support.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Maria was surprised to find Lucille on her doorstep that afternoon. "Do you miss Troy already?" She asked amused but also sympathetic, she knew this had all come as a great shock to her friend.

"Well yes, it does feel strange knowing he won't be coming home tonight, but I actually had something to talk over with you all. Nothing bad honestly, just an idea Rebecca had" Lucille said quickly.

"Rebecca?" Maria queried knowing Troy had mentioned the name when he was describing the family but not sure where she fit in.

"Jack's brother's wife" Lucille explained. "The couple we're going to stay with between Christmas and New Year."

Maria walked over to the bottom of the stairs and called "Troy, Gabriella, Lucille is here." She turned to Lucille. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thankyou I can't stay long, I don't want Jack to know about this visit" Lucille replied making Maria even more concerned.

"Hey Mama" Troy greeted his mother kissing her on the cheek. "What's up?" He looked concerned.

"Nothing worth that worried face Troy. Calm down it's just an idea Rebecca had today." Lucille said smiling at her son.

"Aunt Becky? What did she want?" Troy asked smiling at the thought of his aunt.

"To get back at your father and Uncle for all the pranks they've played." Lucille said dryly.

Troy laughed and turned to Gabriella and Maria "Aunt Becky is Dad's brother Uncle Dave's wife. We're staying with them after Christmas. She's really great you'll like her" he reassured them. "Uncle Dave's a lot like Dad and they've always been very competitive about everything. It used to be Basketball until Uncle Dave was injured and couldn't play anymore. Mostly now they compete by trying to prank or fool each other."

"Is there a problem with us joining you?" Maria asked quietly.

"Oh no! Rebecca said you're more than welcome to stay, especially if you promise to talk about something other than Basketball" Lucille reassured her smiling. "The reason she called is she has come up with an idea to pay back Jack and Dave for all the times they've dragged us into their attempts to try and prank each other whenever they get together. And Dave has apparently decided that Troy and Gabriella's marriage is part of this year's practical joke. He doesn't believe that you are really married."

"But didn't you tell Aunt Becky the truth?" Troy asked confused.

"Yes of course I did, it took some convincing but in the end she does believe me. However, she was thinking that maybe we could use this as an opportunity to prank both of them by all playing along with Dave's suspicions. If none of us actually do anything to deny or confirm the marriage then Jack will spend the visit trying to convince Dave and Dave will be trying to make Jack confess that it's not true. They should both make fools of themselves, and hopefully will think twice before involving everyone in their pranks in future" Lucille explained Rebecca's idea.

Troy laughed "I can see how it could be funny. But I'll only play along if Gabriella's happy about it. I don't want her to be hurt by Uncle Dave's attitude."

"Are you sure we should Troy? I don't want to make a bad first impression with your family" Gabriella asked worried.

"Trust me Gabriella, actively being part of a prank will be the best first impression you could make on Jack's crazy family." Lucille answered dryly.

"So if we agree to go along with this what would we need to do?" Maria asked warily.

"Well basically just not to either confirm or deny any knowledge of their marriage in front of Dave. And then Troy when you're alone with Jack complain to him that it's his fault Dave doesn't believe you. Pretend to be upset about it" Lucille replied.

"I won't need to pretend, I'm sure I will be upset with some of the things that Uncle Dave will say if he doesn't believe me" Troy answered bluntly.

"And what about when he asks, do I lie?" Gabriella asked "I'm a terrible liar he'll see right through it" Gabriella was still worried if this would work and how Troy's aunt and uncle would accept her.

"You shouldn't have to lie. Dave won't ask directly when Jack's around anyway, that would be admitting Jack had convinced him. When Jack's not around just laugh, change the subject or even just refuse to answer" Lucille reassured her.

"Or just blush and run away" Troy added grinning, knowing that Gabriella was likely to become too embarrassed to do anything else in any case.

"Okay I can do that." Gabriella blushed.

"What else will we have to do? I mean what will Dave and Dad ask us to do to prove their point?" Troy asked trying to anticipate potential problems.

"Well... Dave will be trying to make Jack admit you're not married... so he'll probably ask in front of everyone if you want to share a room. And ask you about how you slept or if the bed was comfortable. He will likely make some off colour innuendos, trying to make Jack uncomfortable about letting his son share a bed with a girl, or possibly make derogatory comments about his decisions as a parent to make him lose his temper" Lucille said thoughtfully.

Gabriella and Maria frowned at this.

Troy laughed nervously and said "All right then, we just need to make sure Uncle Dave has plenty of opportunity to rag on Dad and I when Gabriella and Maria aren't around to hear him. I'll not allow him to upset Gabi."

"You will need to make sure to hold onto your temper too Troy, if he thinks Gabriella's not your wife he may not be as respectful as you would like him to be."

"I will try my best. But he better treat Gabriella nicely or I'll deck him" Troy said firmly. "What else will he do?"

"He can't do much neither Becky, your father or I will let him be rude to Gabriella" Lucille reassured Troy. "And you don't have to do this you know. I told Becky that I'd ask you and that I'd only go along with this if you and Gabriella agree" Lucille said.

Troy looked ant Gabriella who shrugged leaving the decision up to him. "I think we should if you think we can pull it off" he said after a moment, "but only if you're sure you won't be hurt by whatever Uncle Dave says" he said hugging Gabriella.

"Why do you think we should get involved in this prank?" Maria asked curiously.

"I wouldn't put it passed Aunt Becky to tease the hell out of us if we didn't" Troy explained.

Lucille laughed tiredly and nodded. "Jack's family all have a bit of a strange sense of humour" she agreed.

"Even if we agree Becky still needs to talk Evelyn and Jim into playing along."

"You think Grandma will refuse?" Troy asked his mother knowing his grandfather loved pranks as much as his sons did.

Lucille sighed and shook her head "Once Becky tells her everyone else is in on it she will likely go along with it."

"We talked about Dave's reactions but what do you think Jack might do?" Maria asked.

"Jack will try to get you to talk about the wedding, or to show Rebecca and Dave the photographs. He'll probably refer to Gabriella as his daughter, or as part of the family"

"So we just need to ignore him?" Gabriella asked.

"If we make sure none of us take any of the wedding photos except the one I intend to give Denise it should be easy enough" Lucille reassured her daughter-in-law.

"But there's one other thing to be aware of. We will have to keep a look out for Dave's prank on Jack. He thinks Jack has involved all of us in his prank which may cause Dave to target us as well with whatever prank he tries."

Troy groaned, "And we'll have to watch out for Dad's prank too, seeing that our marriage isn't really a prank and Dad doesn't know about Uncle Dave thinking that it is, so he's likely to have his own prank planned as well" he reminded his mother. "Do you have any idea what he's planning?" Troy asked his mother hopefully.

"No he doesn't like to share pranks in advance. I think that he suspects that I would warn Rebecca if I knew in advance" Lucille replied with an amused smile.

"Yeah because you would never think of telling" Troy said sarcastically.

"Won't Jack pulling a second prank give us away?" Maria asked

"Hmm" thought Lucille "Yes that may be a problem. Dave will only be expecting one prank so either we will inadvertently be helping Jack to successfully pull his prank by diverting suspicion, or Dave will realise that your marriage is not part of a prank and wonder why we've let him think it was."

"But in that case we tell him that Aunt Becky knew the truth and not telling him was her idea so then she will take most of the blame, won't she?" Troy asked.

"Unless she can convince him that she didn't know either." Gabriella said.

Lucille laughed "She's sneaky enough to try that" she agreed "but I think her past reputation for pranking will attract suspicion."

"I'd better get home before your father wonders where I am" Lucille said as she got up to leave.

Troy laughed "He won't be home Mom, we have a game tonight."

"Oh I can't believe I forgot" Lucille said "I should go and let you get ready."

"It's fine Mom it's only at La Cueva, so I have plenty of time" Troy smiled.

"Do you want some dinner before you go?" Maria asked.

"No I'll grab some fruit I don't want anything heavy." Troy answered grabbing a banana.

"Is Gabriella going with you?" Maria asked.

Troy looked at Gabriella who nodded. "We need to leave in about 20 minutes, you should bring a book because I have to get there early so you'll be on your own for a while."

"Would you prefer to come with me?" Lucille asked her daughter-in-law.

Gabriella was about to decline when Troy answered "That's a good idea. I don't like the thought of you sitting there alone."

"Surely I wouldn't be alone" Gabriella protested.

"Most of the other girlfriends don't come when the team does so the only other East high people there would be the cheerleaders and maybe a couple of Moms." Troy said quietly.

Gabriella smiled at his concern "Thanks Lucille I'd love to come with you instead. I'll eat with Troy when we get home," Gabriella told her mother before she excused herself to get changed and ready, and Troy walked his mother to the door giving her a big hug as he said goodbye.

"I'll see you at the game" Lucille said to him. "Tell Gabriella I'll pick her up in about an hour."

Troy grinned. "Talk to you after then" he said.

The Wildcats defeated the La Cueva Bears by a respectable margin. Troy played well attracting the attention of scouts from Colorado State and the University of Nevada. He spoke to them briefly after the game and expected to receive offers from them by mail in the coming week. He wasn't at all interested in what they offered academically so even if staying near Gabriella hadn't been a consideration he doubted that he would have considered either college. They were both Div 1 teams but neither offer was likely to be as comprehensive as U of A's or Berkeley's offer as both schools already had great point guards who were expected to return next season and though they were both had a starting position elsewhere on their respective teams he expected they would only be offering him a reserve position. Neither college had a theatre programme that really interested him either.

Being an away game and on a school night, there was slightly less after game hype and the after game celebrations were scheduled for the following day. By the time he came out of the changing rooms most of the supporters had gone though Gabriella and his parents were standing together waiting for him.

Troy took longer than usual in the shower that evening in spite of the fact he'd showered after the game two hours earlier, trying to reduce the likelihood of a repeat of the morning's humiliation. It was the first time he had masturbated since the wedding and he felt decidedly awkward doing so in the Montez's bathroom. He also felt slightly guilty as if he were letting Gabriella down by performing a sexual act while Maria was in the house even if Gabriella wasn't involved. However he also knew that he needed to relieve the tension somehow before he ended up losing control altogether and doing something he would really regret and potentially harming his relationship with Gabriella permanently.

Gabriella noticed his flushed face and the way he avoided her eyes as he came out of the shower but decided not to tease him about it. She watched as he put on boxers and basketball shorts before joining her in bed.

"You don't have to wear those" she told him quietly "I really am okay with it if you dream like that again."

Troy ignored her comment, kissed her on the cheek and quietly said "Good night Baby, sleep well"

"Love you Baby" she said as she snuggled into his side. She fell asleep quickly and Troy soon followed in spite of worrying about potential embarrassing dreams.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5, foodbox and meet-nightmist for your support.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Thursday 12th Dec

Decathlon

Gabriella became nervous and jittery soon after she arrived at school the morning of the decathlon, not because she wasn't confident that she would know the necessary answers nor was it due to her dislike of being in the spotlight as her experience with the Twinkle-town Musicale had helped her overcome that. No it was mostly because her best friend was totally freaking out. Taylor was now so stressed about the competition that she was in danger of not being able to compete at all. Gabriella urgently enlisted Troy and Chad to calm her down.

"Taylor relax you have trained hard enough, we all know what to do and we have a very good chance of winning, but if you don't calm down a little you'll make the rest of the team so nervous that they could blow it even if they do know the answers" Gabriella said in vain.

"I can't help it this is my senior year. This is my last chance to win this and there will be representatives from colleges present. It could harm all our chances if we don't do well. You're lucky to already have a scholarship offer from the college you want to attend but the rest of us need to do well today" Taylor replied agitatedly pacing around the room.

"Taylor this is only the first round. At this level the only colleges that will even consider sending scouts will be U of A and UNM, and none of the seniors on the team are interested in attending either so don't stress about the scouts" Gabriella protested deliberately ignoring the fact that they'd have to win today to get into the rounds where there would be scouts the team wanted to impress. "This team is easily as good as last year's team and other than me you've all trained harder than ever before. I won't let you down Taylor I promise, we can do this. Now let's get our minds off it for a while and have lunch outside with the gang." Gabriella grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the practice room and out into the courtyard where Troy and Chad were waiting with their lunch.

They ate outside on the grass idly watching soccer practice and refusing to let anyone talk about schoolwork, college acceptances or the decathlon.

It was the first time they gang had all been together since their impromptu breakfast at the Boltons' the Monday after the wedding, and the gang were all pleased to see that Troy and Gabriella seemed to be back to their old sickeningly sweet selves instead of the stressed out angry and miserable pair they had been for the month leading up to the wedding ."

Gabriella sat leaning into Troy as he wrapped his arm around her. They were no more willing to indulge in inappropriate public demonstrations of affection than they were before but these days they sat a little closer together and seemed to be touching in some way whenever possible.

"You seem so happy" Kelsi said watching them "I'm glad it all worked out."

"Yeah our parents all took the news much better than we thought they would" Troy confirmed.

Kelsi smiled at this. "Not just that you seem truly content and closer than ever" she teased.

Troy laughed and Gabriella blushed "Yeah its funny" he said "I spend a lot more time with Gabriella now than I ever did and I still miss her more now when she's busy than I did before."

"I had worried that you'd be so focussed on each other that you'd let everything else slide" said Taylor

"Do you mean stuff like the decathlon and yearbook committee, or were you worried about losing our friendship?" Gabriella quietly asked her best friend.

Taylor was quiet for a minute, "Both really, that's probably one of the reasons I've been on at you to come to the decathlon training sessions. I knew you didn't really need the practice, but I felt that I needed you there" she admitted.

"Taylor you're the best girl friend I've ever had. I'm not going to throw that away. Troy and I will probably need to spend more time together now trying to sort things out and make living together work. But because we live together that extra time doesn't have to take away from the time we spend with you guys." Gabriella said leaning over to give her friend a quick hug.

The Wildcats won their first heat of the decathlon by an impressive margin, and Gabriella, who led the point tally, was finally fully forgiven by the rest of the team for missing so many practice sessions. Troy and the gang had all come to watch and cheer, and the team had blossomed with confidence at being supported by the social leaders of the school. Troy joined them as they went out to celebrate afterwards. It was the first time he'd actually got to know the new freshman and sophomore members of the team. Normally they were too shy around the Basketball star to do more than frown at him as he picked up Gabriella. Now in the euphoria of having won their match they had the courage to actually complain to him about all the practices Gabriella had missed because of him, they might have forgiven Gabriella since she virtually won the competition for them but they still resented that the rules everyone else had to abide by did not seem to apply to Troy and Gabriella.

"Look I'm sorry we were so busy with the wedding and all. It's over now so it won't happen again, but you have to realise that this is Gabriella's fourth scholastic decathlon, her team won the final in her sophomore year, and she has this amazing memory, she just doesn't need as much practice as you guys did. She didn't let you down when it counted right so give her some slack. Gabriella's life is a lot more complicated than most high school students. Be angry with me all you like but don't punish Gabriella for something she couldn't control." Troy defended his wife.

"Yeah but she chose to get married in the middle of the school year! And you didn't skive off Basketball training. I mean you were still there every day right?" argued one of the younger boys.

Troy laughed, "For one thing, Gabriella didn't just choose to get married in the middle of the school term it was a bit more complicated than that, but I'm not going to explain our decision to you. And you're forgetting that I live with Coach Bolton I can't skive off practice otherwise he has me up training at five o'clock in the morning to make up for it. Any how you're wrong I did miss a few practices, we practice two or three times a day during the season. My team were cool with it, even if Dad wasn't."

"You mean you willingly miss practice for Gabriella knowing that you'll have to make it up in the morning?" someone asked shocked.

"Yeah!" Troy grinned, not telling them that he was up almost that early to train most days anyway.

They all looked horrified at the thought of getting up so early and one of the juniors said "Please please don't tell Taylor about your five o'clock training sessions, she might think it's a great idea." The others shuddered.

"Or the idea of practicing three times every day" one of the others added.

Troy laughed again "Well okay you stop giving Gabriella a hard time and I won't suggest anything to Taylor, deal?"

They all nodded fervently, then rapidly tried to change the subject as Taylor walked towards them. Unfortunately she had heard Troy's offer.

"You won't suggest what to me, Bolton?" She demanded threateningly.

"I won't suggest that you petition the librarian to let you camp out in there for the week before decathlon finals" he said, knowing there was no chance of them being allowed.

Taylor frowned at him knowing that he wouldn't tell her what they had really been talking about.

Gabriella who had heard the entire conversation came up and kissed Troy quickly "Thank you for trying to take the blame for me missing practice but it's okay Troy I've been forgiven."

Troy wrapped his arms around her and grinned. "I know you're so lovable that no-one could resist forgiving you anything" he said teasingly.

The younger members of the team laughed to see the previously so unapproachable (in the eyes of a freshman) king of the school joking around with them and being so openly affectionate with his wife. The changes Troy and Gabriella had made to the status quo were slowly trickling down to the younger years and they felt more accepted by the other students than they had in the past but socialization with the school's most popular seniors was still a novelty.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara and Pumpkinking5 for you continuous support.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Fri 13th Dec

Gabriella rang her Aunt Ginevra during free period the next morning to make arrangements to meet up at the mall across town that afternoon to tell her about the wedding and that she wouldn't be going to France. She and Troy got there early and waited anxiously for Ginevra to arrive. Both Troy and Gabriella were slightly nervous, Troy because he barely knew Gabriella's aunt and couldn't predict how she would react though he had heard enough to believe that Ginevra didn't approve of his relationship with her niece, and Gabriella because she knew her aunt had been looking forward to having Gabriella stay with her in Europe and would be disappointed that the plan had changed.

Ginevra arrived while they were distracted and stopped a moment watching the two of them talking. She had been concerned when Gabriella asked her to meet again that either Alejandro or one of his men had arrived to make sure Maria and Gabriella didn't disappear again or that Gabriella had been pressured into going through with the marriage Alejandro had arranged. Ginevra knew that her sister still had reservations about Gabriella going to France both whether they'd succeed in escaping Alejandro and if they did what the legal ramifications would be.

Ginevra was surprised and a little dismayed to see Troy waiting with Gabriella. The boy was Ginevra's biggest source of concern for her with the long term success of their plan. They were so infatuated with each other, and Ginevra had hoped that Troy would let Gabriella go without words of enduring love or commitment. She resolved to try to speak to him about the long term sadness that even the most well meant of promises was likely to cause, and the need for both of them to move on and embrace life instead of attempting to put part of their lives on hold for eighteen months. She only hoped he was better at listening to her advice than her niece seemed to be.

"Gabriella, Sorry I'm late" she hugged her niece and turned to Troy "and it's Troy right?" she asked.

"Pleased to meet you again." Answered Troy with a nod and small smile standing up to shake her hand.

"Yes Aunt Ginevra I'd like you to meet my husband Troy Bolton" said Gabriella jumping in before her aunt could try to make Troy feel unwelcome.

"Husband..." Ginevra repeated in shock "Gabriella what have you done?"

"We got married last week Aunt Ginevra." Gabriella explained "I can't be forced to marry Eduardo now, so I can stay in Albuquerque and finish school with all of my friends and then go to Stanford next year like I had originally planned. Isn't that better than spending 18 months in hiding unable to contact anyone?"

But Gabriella you're only sixteen, you are too young to be married!" Ginevra protested.

"Is that why you were so willing to take me away and hide me?" asked Gabriella

"Yes. You are both too young to be making commitments like this. Love doesn't last at your age. What will you do then?" She asked them anxiously.

"I can't imagine ever not loving Troy; he is my best friend as well as my boyfriend and husband. This is not some silly high school crush that might fade away in a few weeks or months. We've been together nearly a year and only had one real fight." Gabriella defended.

"I understand you being willing to do this if it was the only way to avoid being married to a stranger, but I gave you an opportunity to escape that" Ginevra argued.

"I know Aunt Ginevra and it was a wonderful offer, but my heart belongs here with Troy. I couldn't leave him." Gabriella said firmly, she wanted her aunt to understand but wouldn't allow Ginevra to come between Troy and herself.

"You would have gotten over him" Ginevra argued.

"I don't think so, and I did listen to your advice I just didn't react the way you wanted me to. I didn't want to take the risk of growing away from Troy. This way we'll be together and it won't happen."

"You will still both grow and mature in different ways. College won't be like high school and even being together there will be a lot of pressures and experiences pulling you in different directions."

Gabriella looked firmly at her aunt. "I understand that. But at the end of the day I'll come home to Troy and we will be able to talk about those experiences and deal with the pressures together. I love him Aunt Ginevra and he loves me, we will grow together."

"Well the offer to come to Europe still stands if you change your mind, or if things don't work out with Troy like you think they will just write to me and I'll make the arrangements for you to come." Ginevra was clearly upset with her niece's decision to marry her high school boyfriend and wanted her to know she always would have options if she came to regret getting married.

"Thank you for the offer I'm very grateful, but I won't be taking you up on it. I will miss you and mum terribly Aunt Ginevra but I won't change my mind, Troy is my life. I'm sorry to disappoint you when you had made so many plans for me and were looking forward to me coming to Europe with you."

"I was looking forward to having you live with me it gets a bit lonely always moving from place to place on my own. But that's beside the point. I'm far more worried about you than I am disappointed. What will you do if things don't work out with Troy?" It took Ginevra a lot of effort to say 'if' instead of 'when' but she knew that Gabriella would reject her point of view entirely if she didn't at least appear to believe they had a chance at having a successful marriage.

"Marriage is such a huge step even for adults. Where will you live?" she asked.

"We're staying with Mum until she goes to Mexico then moving in with Troy's mum and dad for the rest of the school year. We'll probably visit mum for a while over the summer wherever she's living. Then we'll move in to the married accommodation that is on offer with Troy's scholarship next year."

Troy sat back and let Gabriella do all the talking as they'd agreed. It was difficult not to jump in and defend their love for each other, but Gabriella was doing just fine without his help. He was thrilled by the conviction and passion she was using to support their decision to get married.

Ginevra noticed his quiet support, the way he was paying close attention to their argument even though he was letting Gabriella handle the talking. She was more impressed with the boy than she had expected to be.

"And where exactly is this scholarship. Is it at a school you actually wanted to attend or are you compromising your education so that you can stay together?" Ginevra asked knowing that Troy would receive a athletic scholarship not an academic scholarship and sports scholarships were very rarely offered by the colleges Gabriella had been considering.

"We've negotiated for married housing off campus. It's about sixteen miles from both Stanford and Berkeley" Gabriella replied. "Neither of us will have to compromise on anything." Gabriella replied trying to stay calm.

"Except not being able to live on campus you will miss a lot of the non academic experiences of college life" Ginevra argued.

"Yes, like college parties, drinking way too much and waking up in bed with a complete stranger or someone you wouldn't have looked at twice if you hadn't been drunk" Gabriella retorted scornfully. "I wouldn't have thought you actually wanted me to have those sort of experiences."

"I meant the friendships you make, my college roommates are still some of the best friends I've ever had. Not to mention being part of late night study groups or making the most of some of the many clubs and extra-curricular activities available" Ginevra tried to convince Gabriella that she really would be missing out on a valuable part of the college experience by living with Troy.

"I could still do extracurricular activities and stuff. And I'll make friends in my classes" Gabriella protested.

"It won't be the same. You won't be able to do any of the same extracurricular activities because you'll be on different campuses, and you will find yourself limiting how many you sign up for in order to get home and play house with Troy."

"I'll make time for the activities that are important to me, and Troy is majoring in Theatre so he'll have Basketball training and rehearsals after classes too so I won't be rushing home to be with him. This is what I want Aunt Ginevra! Why can't you be happy for me?"

"This is what you think you want right now. You're very young Gabriella that will change."

"You're wrong Troy and I are in love that will never change" Gabriella yelled as she got up and stormed away.

As Troy got up to follow his wife he said quietly "She's right you know I love her and I'll do anything to make her happy. We're married, you can't change that all you are doing is hurting her with your lack of support."

Ginevra watched him as he hurried to catch up with Gabriella and took her into his arms. The boy had impressed her with his unquestioning support of her niece, his giving her the freedom to try and work their disagreement out without his interference until things fell apart and his insightful comment that her actions were needlessly hurting her niece were right on the ball. She could see why Maria thought well of the boy and had accepted this marriage. It was time for her to do the same and try and patch things up with Gabriella before she lost what little supportive family she had. She walked slowly toward them and waited for Gabriella to calm down a little before offering her a hug. "I'm sorry Gabi, I didn't mean to upset you. I love you."

Gabriella returned the hug "I love you too Aunt Ginevra"

Ginevra smiled "I think you can drop the Aunt and just call me Ginevra now that you're an old married lady. Don't forget to keep in contact now that I don't have to drop off the grid to hide from Alejandro."  
Gabriella smiled, "We will" she promised.

A/N: thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, iminlove13 and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Disclaimer: I do not own High Scool Musical or any of its characters.

December 14 Saturday

Maria left for work early Saturday morning, claiming she needed to finish up some paperwork without the usual distractions of a busy office. In truth she wanted to give the young couple some alone time. She knew that between Basketball, scholastic decathlon, and dealing with their friends and family's reaction to their marriage that they'd had very little time to themselves. So she'd talked to Troy as he came in from his morning run, informing him that she had lunch plans with a friend and would likely be home after 3pm.

Troy grinned as Maria left the house then bounded up the stairs and rushed through his shower hoping to be able to climb back into bed with Gabriella before she woke up.

Inwardly cheering his success he wrapped his arms around her and gently drew her close. She turned in to his embrace and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"I didn't mean to wake you" he apologised.

Mmmm it's okay, aren't you going to run today?" she asked sleepily.

Troy laughed "I just got back, you looked so comfortable I couldn't resist."

Gabriella shook her head knowing that Troy normally felt energised after his run and wouldn't want to sleep.

Her suspicions were confirmed when he leaned in and started kissing her.

She kissed back enthusiastically at first, drawing back when she felt his hands slide up under her shirt.

Troy felt her withdrawal and removing his hands he propped himself up on one elbow.

"Gabriella?" he asked, concerned that he'd upset her in some way.

"We can't Troy. My mum.." she began to protest.

"Left for work as I got back from running. She said she'd be home around three" Troy told her smiling.

Gabriella didn't react for a moment, and Troy thought he had some idea what the problem was.

"Gabi" he hesitantly said "I meant what I said before we got married. If you're not ready to make love again then it's okay, we can wait. I didn't mean to push you. I just felt like cuddling up and spending some quality time together. I'm sorry I got carried away" Troy apologised.

"Troy you are the sweetest man in the world." Gabriella sighed hugging him. "But you're wrong I do want to make love..."

"But" Troy interrupted knowing from the hesitancy in her voice that there was more to it.

"I don't know" Gabriella said "I still feel awkward about it, I want to but it just doesn't feel right."

"Is it being here in your mum's house? Or is it that it's day time and not dark in here?" he asked trying to find a cause so he could hopefully solve the problem.

"A bit of both I think. You are sure mum's not home" Gabriella asked.

"I promise you Gabriella I wouldn't lie about that. I don't want her to hear us either" Troy reassured her blushing at the idea.

"I think that's kind of part of the problem" Gabriella commented seemingly randomly.

"Huh?" Troy asked totally confused.

"It feels like we're sneaking around; worrying about our parents overhearing us. Like we know we're doing something wrong." She hoped he understood because she wasn't sure she could explain the way she was feeling.

Troy nodded thoughtfully "Yeah I understand what you mean but I don't know how to change it. I'm not comfortable with the idea of someone hearing us especially not our parents, so it pretty much has to be while Maria's out. Would it help if we weren't here? If we went to a motel, or made out in my truck?"

"No I don't think so. It still feels too..." she trailed off unsure what she was trying to say.

Troy thought for a moment "Too planned out perhaps. Last weekend we deliberately set out to have sex so that the marriage couldn't be annulled, and since then we've both been so busy. Maybe we shouldn't try to have sex, and try to just enjoy making out and if it happens it happens because that's what we both want at the time, and if it doesn't happen then we'll have enjoyed ourselves anyway" he suggested.

"You don't want to have sex?" she asked incredulously.

"Teenage male here Gabriella" Troy said dryly, "of course I'd like to have sex. Last weekend was amazing. For me anyhow I know it wasn't so great for you." He looked embarrassed and uncertain.

"I want you to be comfortable with what we do. We have forever there's no need to rush this. Let's just relax and try to enjoy making out and see how we feel later. No pressure to go further than you're comfortable with I promise." He leaned in to kiss Gabriella again and this time she returned his kisses with enthusiasm.

As she kissed him Gabriella could feel Troy becoming aroused, but unlike before their marriage she didn't feel uneasy about this and pulled him closer enjoying the feel of his body against hers. Her nightie had ridden up around her waist as Troy's hands moved over her back and his boxer clad erection pressed into her bare stomach.

Troy suddenly moved away rolling onto his back, all his muscles tensed, gritting his teeth. Gabriella was shocked by his sudden rejection.

"Troy what's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"No Gabi being with you like this is wonderful. I just need a minute, I was about to lose control."

Gabriella ran her hand through his hair and kissed him on the cheek.

"Oh okay" she said. "You want more than this?" she questioned uncertainly.

"No Gabi, whatever you're comfortable with is fine. I don't want you to do anything you're not 100% sure you're ready for."

Troy's hadn't managed to will his erection away at all and he realized that he was going to have to deal with it before he embarrassed himself. He sat up swinging his legs over the side. Gabriella caught his hand before he could leave. "Troy?" she asked quietly.

"Gabriella I need... please let me go and deal with this... I'll be back soon..."

Gabriella blushed as she realized what he'd been about to do but refused to let his hand go. "Troy you don't have to leave to take care of it. Just let it happen it's okay."

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm not ready to have sex but I don't want you to feel that you have to hide this from me. Come back in to bed and kiss me or I'll follow you in to the bathroom" Gabriella said teasingly.

Troy laughed at her his face bright red "I'm not sure which would be more embarrassing. You watching me wank or coming in my shorts" he said uneasily.

Gabriella smiled slightly at his embarrassment. "Surely coming in your shorts should only be a problem if you didn't intend to do it, or weren't able to clean up afterwards before Mom got home. The sheets need washing today anyhow and I'll put everything straight in the wash afterwards" she said encouragingly.

Troy climbed back into bed and gathered Gabriella back into his arms and rolled so that he was lying on top of her. Kissing her passionately he gave a small thrust against her stomach then stopped looking in to her eyes. "Are you sure this is okay?" he asked quietly searching for the truth in her eyes.

Gabriella smiled in answer and thrust against him her pubic bone providing exquisite friction. Troy began to thrust against her more forcefully, kissing her fiercely until the lack of oxygen forced them to part. He soon reached his release. "Gabriella... my love...Oh...Gabi..." he groaned spilling his semen in hot gushes over her belly.

Unfortunately his embarrassment returned as he regained his senses, "Gabriella I'm sorry..." he began to apologise. Gabriella put a finger to his lips to stop him. "Troy I enjoy seeing you like that, knowing that I can do that for you. There's nothing to apologise for I wanted it to happen. I agreed remember" Gabriella said reassuringly.

Troy looked at her surprised. "Do you want me to make you come too?" he asked her sleepily.

"You don't need to Troy. It's not something that should be taken strictly in turns" she protested.

Troy smiled "Are you saying that you don't want to do it, or that you don't want me to feel forced to? Cause I like making you come too, you know?" he said with a huge slightly dopey grin.

Gabriella smiled at him "You're almost falling asleep. I would like to try it again one day but not today. It seems too awkward talking about it" she said blushing.

"So you want me to just do it one day when we're alone and making out without asking you first? Are you sure? I don't want to push you into doing anything you don't want to do." Troy asked sitting up to better concentrate of the conversation. He was worried that he was misunderstanding Gabriella and afraid of doing the wrong thing and destroying the trust they had between them.

"Yeah I'm sure. I know you won't push too far Troy. I trust you and I'll ask you to stop if I don't feel like it. I just can't talk about it first, it's too awkward." She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Now lay back down and sleep."

"We need to get cleaned up a bit first" he said blushing. He got a washcloth out of the bathroom and warmed it up, taking it in to Gabriella. He pulled the quilt of her and gently washed her stomach before getting a clean pair of pyjamas out of the drawer and handing them to her. "I know you don't want me to undress you Gabi, but you'll be more comfortable in clean clothes" he said as he left the room. Gabriella was touched by the way that he had cared for her cleaning her up and the way he'd remembered and respected the way she felt about not getting undressed in front of him, and not used the fact that she needed to be cleaned up as an opportunity to push the issue. She quickly changed and climbed back into bed to wait for her husband to come and cuddle up.

Troy took a quick shower, then pulled on clean boxers and slid into bed beside his sleeping wife who immediately turned and snuggled up against him.

Several hours later hunger got the better of them and drove them from their bed. Troy dressed quickly and stripped the bed, putting the sheets and dirty clothes on to wash before beginning to prepare breakfast while Gabriella showered. He sang softly to himself as he started to make Gabriella's favourite pancakes. He knew that Gabriella was expecting toast and cereal which had been one of the three meals Troy could successfully prepare a week ago, (the other two being mac and cheese from a packet and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches).

Troy knew that if he and Gabriella were to survive living away from their families and off campus next year, then he would have to learn to cook and to be more independent. His mother had always spoiled him in that respect, the only household chores he'd ever had was to keep his room sort of tidy and to mow the lawn occasionally. He'd approached Maria the day after he'd moved in letting her know he wanted to pull his weight around the house but had never been taught any of these skills and asked her to teach him what he needed to know. Asking his mother in law for help was difficult and he felt like he was betraying his Mom but it turned out to be one of the best things he could have done. She quickly showed him how to use the washing machine and drier, giving him a checklist to make sure he didn't forget to separate the colours, or use the wrong settings.

Then while Gabriella had been so busy each night with scholastic decathlon training Maria had been teaching him how to cook simple things. He had a long way to go but now could be trusted to use the frypan safely, to follow directions on a packet, and not risk setting the kitchen on fire. The lessons had also helped Troy and Maria get over the awkwardness remaining from the time she'd banned him from the house and demanded that he stop seeing her daughter. They had now resumed their former comfortable relationship and were well on the way to considering each other as truly part of their family.

The surprise on Gabriella's face when she came downstairs and saw the pancakes waiting for her was worth all of the effort it had taken to find the courage to ask for Maria's help and the hours he'd spent learning. Troy knew that he probably should have asked his mother for cooking lessons rather than Maria, but whenever he'd tried to help in the kitchen at home his mother had quickly taken over and sent him out to set the table or something.

"Wow Troy I didn't know you could cook, or did mum make them for me before she left this morning?" Gabriella asked suspiciously.

"No I made them, your mum has been teaching me how to cook a bit so you won't have to do it all when we move to California next year" Troy said grinning.

"Mum's forcing you to learn to cook?" Gabriella asked shocked that her mother would force the issue like that.

"No I asked her to teach me. She taught me how to use the washing machine and drier, and says that she'll show me how to vacuum and clean the bathroom too. I want to know how to look after you."

"Troy that is so sweet but how can you have had all these lessons without me knowing anything about it?"

"Well mostly she's taught me stuff while you were at Taylor's practicing for the decathlon" Troy explained.

"So it's you that's been washing all my stuff. I thought mum had taken pity on me because I was so busy with scholastic decathlon or was feeling guilty over leaving."

Troy laughed "I think she does feel a bit guilty over leaving you. That's why she's put so much time and effort in to teaching me how to look after you."

"Well she's certainly succeeded, these are delicious Troy." Gabriella complimented him.

Troy blushed pleased with her compliment.

Troy was in a relaxed mellow mood as they joined the rest of the gang at the movies that night. That morning had gone well if not exactly as Troy had hoped. The tension between he and Gabriella had disappeared and they were now comfortable with their new more sexual relationship.

He went along with the girls' choice in movies and therefore found himself watching Twilight. At the pizza parlour after the movie he and the guys laughed at the girls gushing about how Edward was the most perfect boyfriend.

"He wants to drink her blood, what's so perfect about that?" Zeke asked them.

"He's fascinated with her because he can't tell what she is thinking. You get angry at me when I don't know what you're wanting from me." Chad exclaimed.

"I don't want you to be able to hear everything I'm thinking. I just want you to be a little less obtuse." Taylor shot back at him.

"He's a stalker. He climbs up and in her window every night and spends all night sitting watching her." Ryan put in.

"Does that make Troy a perfect boyfriend too? He used to climb in Gabriella's window every night." Jason asked.

The other boys cat called and laughed as Gabriella and Troy blushed.

"Hey I never snuck in and spent all night watching her like that. Gabriella always knew I was there; I didn't peek in on her like a pervert I knocked as soon as I arrived and Gabriella invited me in, she always knew if I was staying or not. If she was asleep and didn't answer I left straight away. I wouldn't do what Edward did, it's kind of creepy" Troy defended himself.

"Jason's right you were the perfect boyfriend." Gabriella smiled at him while the other girls sighed and the boys groaned.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara and Pumpkinking5 for your ongoing support.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Monday December 16

Troy was distracted all day; Gabriella was wearing his favourite dress again. If only she knew what it did to him. Wait a minute she did know, she'd been teasing him about it that night that everything went to hell. Was the fact she was wearing it today after their discussion on Saturday an invitation then, he asked himself. And if it was would he get the opportunity to take her up on it.

He came out of the changing rooms after practice to find Gabriella waiting for him. "Hey Gabriella" he said "I didn't expect you to wait for me you know?"

"It's fine Troy I was in the library with the decathlon team. I'm hoping by meeting weekly now we will be better prepared for the next round and Taylor won't feel the need to train every single minute in the week leading up to the next round of competition."

Troy laughed "Trying to stop Taylor from stressing out about it again? Good luck with that."

He opened her door for her and helped her in to his truck. "Where to my lady?" he asked.

Wherever you want Troy. Mum's working through dinner tonight so we could go have dinner with your mum if you like."

"Or we could stay home and have dinner just the two of us" Troy said, hoping Gabriella would agree.

"Or we could stay home and I could help you practice your cooking skills" Gabriella said with a smile.

"And what would my lady like me to cook for her?" Troy teased.

"I'll leave that decision to you, what can you cook now?" She knew Troy had continued to spend time in the kitchen with her mother but had no idea how much he had learned.

"By myself, not much but I am learning, I should be able to cook for you one day soon."

Troy parked his truck and the two of them went to sit on the hammock in Gabriella's back yard. Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella pulling her down on top of him and began kissing her ardently. He fully expected that Gabriella would soon call their make out session to a halt and either want to go inside somewhere more private or stop and cook dinner. He thought this was a good compromise, this way he'd know whether or not Gabriella wanted to fool around without her actually having to tell him.

He was surprised when Gabriella sat up straddling his hips as he lay in the hammock and moved his hands to her thighs.

"Are you sure you want to stay out here?" Troy asked nervously.

"I'm sure" Gabriella replied leaning forward to resume kissing him.

Troy kissed her back enthusiastically his hands rubbing up and down the top of her thighs, trying to decide what she wanted him to do. Did she want to stay out here in order to guarantee he didn't try to undress her or take things too far. He could feel his arousal growing, scorching through his veins but he forced himself to relax, this moment was about Gabriella's pleasure not his own.

Troy kept rubbing his hands up her thighs going a little further each time until he reached the edge of her knickers. He played nervously with the lace edging he pound there before sliding his fingers across to brush along her core the feel of her heat through the rapidly dampening lace driving him wild. Pure fire streaked through her body from every place his hands and his lips touched and she moaned arching against his fingers. "More" she whispered.

Troy hid his grin, kissing her neck careful not to leave a mark. He pushed the lace aside and gently circled her clit with his thumb while his finger teased her entrance gently touching her wet, swollen flesh—she cried out at the sensation, pushing herself into his hand in a mindless, desperate search for more. It was too little—and paradoxically, too much at the same time, too much sensation, too much pleasure, until she thought she might go mad.

Troy quickly got the message and added a second finger thrusting them cautiously at first then more quickly as Gabriella moaned her approval.

Troy looked up at Gabriella straddling his lap her dress hiding the actions of his hand. He searched her face carefully for signs of discomfort. Instead he watched with delight her expression of ecstasy as she orgasmed around his fingers. Troy felt the evidence of her orgasm flow over his hand, his name gasping from her lips as her eyes glazed over with emotions. She never looked more beautiful to him than she did now; her face flushed with release and contentment.

Gabriella opened her eyes and saw Troy looking at her with a mixture of awe and arousal. "Fuck Gabriella," he rasped, "you looked so…" he trailed off, the heated look he gave her more eloquent than the words he couldn't articulate.

A fresh wave of heat coursed through her just from the look in his eyes. Gabriella could feel Troy's erection as it strained against his jeans and she ground herself against it. Troy's hips jerked

Gabriella raised her head to look down at him, a smile which he could only describe as wickedly (delightfully) seductive curving her lips.

Troy wouldn't have thought it was possible but he hardened even more—he was so hard, it hurt—and it was because of her expression more than her touch.

Gabriella climbed off Troy and out of the hammock asking him to wait there for her. She returned a few minutes later and Troy jumped up to help her resume her position on his lap. His hands went to grasp the cheeks of her ass to prevent her falling as he moved back in to the middle of the hammock. He almost fell out in shock, instead of the expected lace Troy could feel only silky smooth skin under his palms. "Gabriella?" he asked.

"I'm ready Troy" Gabriella said in a shy but confident voice. "Make love to me." She said kissing him with abandon.

"We can't" Troy groaned "Gabi Stop! Please before I..."

"It's okay Troy I'm sure that I want this. I want you to lose control."

Troy lifted her off his lap and buried his face in his hands groaning in despair.

"What's wrong Troy? Don't you want to make love with me?" Gabriella asked letting her insecurities show.

"More than anything Gabi. I love you."

"Then why?"

I thought you wouldn't be ready for a while yet and I didn't want to be tempted so I left the condoms at home. I don't have any here."

"Oh! I hadn't even thought about a condom. Thanks for remembering." Gabriella was horrified that she'd forgotten something so important, sure she'd had the shot but she and Troy had agreed not to take any risks.

"I could go and get..." Troy trailed off as he looked at his erection. He couldn't go home or to the shops in the state he was in. "I guess I'd have to shower first" he admitted slightly embarrassed.

Gabriella pushed him backwards so he was lying across the hammock, her hands reached to unbutton his jeans and pushed them and his boxers down just far enough to be able to wrap one hand around his penis while she cupped his balls tenderly with the other. Troy let out a strangled groan as she started to fondle him and unintentionally jerked his hips up. Gabriella smirked at him as she watched his reaction to her touch and sped up her actions.

It took very little time before Troy was murmuring incoherently thrusting up in to her hand in a wordless plea to drive him over the edge. "Fuck Gabi" "Oh God Yes" "Please" "Gabiii"

When he'd finished Gabriella ignored the mess and lay back down kissing him languidly then seeing Troy smile sleepily at her she sat up and pulled him out of the hammock. "You can't fall asleep out here Troy" she said not wanting to risk that they wouldn't wake up in time to get cleaned up before her mother got home.

"You shower first" Troy offered, "If you put your clothes outside the door I'll put them in the washing machine before Maria gets home"

Gabriella nodded gratefully and entered the bathroom to undress, a moment later the door opened and a hand passed out her clothes to him. Troy sighed he had hoped that Gabriella would become more comfortable undressing around him but it didn't seem to be happening.

Troy carried her clothes down to the laundry and loaded them in to the wash, striping off his own clothes and adding them and the soap powder he set the machine going before walking naked up the stairs to wait for Gabriella to finish showering.

Gabriella was coming out of the bathroom wrapped firmly in a large towel as he reached the top of the stairs. Her eyes widened as she saw him walking naked around the house grinning at her "Troy! What on earth are you doing?"she asked horrified.

Troy had grinned at the sight of her standing there in her towel, "I just put the clothes on to wash like I said I would" he replied wondering why she sounded shocked.

"Troy you can't walk around the house like that! What if Mum had come home or one of the neighbours saw you."

Troy looked down and blushed "I'm sorry Gabi, I took my clothes off to load them into the washer with yours so I could set it going. I didn't think about it."

Gabriella laughed at the idea of Troy walking around the house without realizing he was naked. Just as well her mother hadn't arrived home early because she would have got an eyeful. "Are you sure you're not a closet nudist" she teased.

"Gabriella no I swear I'm not." He escaped into the shower with her soft laughter ringing in his ears.

Gabriella continued to laugh, she'd been joking Troy had sounded so mortified at the thought of being a nudist last time she mentioned it that she couldn't resist teasing him about it.

Troy finished showering and entered the bedroom to find Gabriella fully dressed sitting on the bed waiting for him fidgeting nervously. "Hey" he said "what's up?" He crossed the room and knelt in front of her to see her face taking her hands in his.

Gabriella looked at him and blushed before hanging her head.

"Are you having second thoughts about being ready to have sex?" he asked gently.

"Will you hate me if I say yes?" she asked in a small voice refusing to look at his face.

Troy jumped to his feet pulling her up into a hug "No Baby, I was kind of expecting you might change your mind once you had time to think calmly about it. That's one of the reasons I didn't pack the condoms when I moved, I wanted us to have time to stop and really think about what we were doing" he reassured her.

"You expected this? You wanted me to have second thoughts?" Gabriella asked startled.

"No, I didn't want you to decide you're not ready I just wanted you to have a chance to think it over and be sure you were. Making decisions when you're too turned on to think straight isn't really a good idea" Troy explained. "I wanted to be sure that if you were going to have second thoughts it would be before we made love."

Gabriella laughed in relief "I guess you're right. Thank you for being so understanding." She returned his hug noticing that at some stage his towel had fallen to the floor and Troy's attraction to her was again poking into her stomach.

"I'm not being understanding I just couldn't bear it if we you regretted making love with me. I never want you to be unhappy with me for loving you" Troy said sadly.

"Oh Baby I'm never going to be anything but delighted that you love me." Gabriella refuted.

"That's not what I meant Gabi." He replied needing to know she wouldn't regret their actions.

Gabriella ran her hands down Troy's back to rest on his firmly rounded ass and gently squeezed pulling him closer. "I don't regret anything we've done Troy" she assured him firmly.

"Yeah but I think I'll still leave the condom's at Mom and Dad's until you tell me that you want me to go and get them. That way we will always have time for second thoughts" Troy stated.

Gabriella didn't argue which told Troy he'd made the right decision; instead she reached between them and grasped his erection. Pulling gently she soon set a rhythm that brought him to the brink of an orgasm before letting his penis go and taking his hand pulled him into the bathroom trying to prevent having to wash another set of cum soaked clothing or bedding. She wrapped both arms around him from behind and ran her hands over his torso pinching his nipples while pressing light kisses to his back and shoulders.

Troy was facing the mirror and watching Gabriella's hands exploring his body was driving him wild "Gabriella please..." he begged. Gabriella ran both hands downwards bypassing his erection to fondle his balls, "Oh God please..."

Eventually she took pity on him and wrapped her hand around his engorged length. Troy bucked his hips and came throwing his head back to lie on her shoulder and shouting her name.

He grabbed the basin to help support his shaking legs and tried to turn to cuddle Gabriella to him "Oh no you don't Troy... You need another shower before you can do that I'm not explaining to mum why I have so many clothes in the wash."

She left him leaning on the vanity and turned the water on before pushing him in to the shower. "I'll bring you some clothes in so this doesn't happen again..."

Troy's face fell "I'm sorry" he said in a small voice, hurt by her comment.

"Oh Troy I didn't mean it like that." She turned off the shower and lifted his chin with her hand so he could see her face. "It's just there's no point getting cleaned up again if we haven't finished. If you really want to keep fooling around we can. Just clean up a bit so you don't get me all messy again."

"Hmm" Troy hummed noncommittally, just then his stomach rumbled.

"It sounds like at least part of you is wanting to go either way." Gabriella chuckled, "So do you want to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner or would you like me to..." she made a gesture with her hands "you know... again"

Troy blushed "I think we'd better get dressed and eat before your mum gets home" he answered reluctantly, turning to adjust the shower to cold.

"I'll call for pizza" Gabriella offered leaving the bathroom.

Troy grinned "Okay but I'm happy to eat Chinese if you'd rather"

"Pizza's fine Troy, the way your stomach's growling you'll need more than Chinese to satisfy your hunger" she called through the door

Troy laughed showering quickly and dressing before going downstairs.

Troy was pleasantly surprised that there was no awkwardness between them as they ate their pizza then curled up on the couch to watch a movie. He wasn't paying the movie much attention, instead enjoying the feel of having Gabriella snuggled in his arms. The sexual tension growing between them was still slightly present as always lately, but instead of becoming frustrated they had come to welcome the extra spark it added to simple hugs and kisses.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara and Pumpkinking5


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

A/N: Everything I know about the American college system and sports scholarships has come from movies and fanfiction. I apologise if I've got something wrong. Actually I'm pretty sure colleges don't cooperate with accommodation like this but they might in my story.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical

Tuesday December 17

Troy and Gabriella arrived at school the next morning to find Jack Bolton waiting for them in the hallway near Toy's locker.

"Hey Dad, what's up?" Troy greeted his father surprised to see him there. Normally Jack tried to limit their interaction at school to in the gym and made himself scarce the rest of the time, to allow Troy the separation between home and school needed for him to have a normal life.

Jack smiled at his son "Good morning Troy, This came for you yesterday. Hello Gabriella" he said handing over a large thick letter bearing the USC Berkley logo.

Troy's eyes lit up, a thick letter like that meant an acceptance. He tore open the envelope and quickly read the cover letter. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" he cried grabbing Gabriella and kissing her passionately.

Jack coughed slightly embarrassed by this unusual public demonstration of affection by the normally reserved couple.

Gabriella Broke off the kiss and blushed looking at her feet.

"Sorry Dad!" Troy said still too excited to be embarrassed.

"I take it that it's good news" Jack asked amused.

"Yeah! They're offering me a full ride, tuition, books, accommodation, travel expenses... it's pretty much the same deal as U of A offered." Troy said enthusiastically.

Gabriella squealed uncharacteristically and threw herself back into Troy's arms kissing him again.

"Congratulations son!" Jack said proudly but can you two please cool it before I'm forced to give you detention for PDA on top of the detention you're undoubtedly going to get for being late to Darbus' class."

Troy looked at his father in horror "couldn't you write us a note" he begged

Jack sighed and handed over the prewritten note excusing their lateness as he had kept them on a school related matter.

Troy grinned and thanked his father before grabbing his and Gabriella's books and heading towards homeroom.

Troy and Gabriella met on the roof during free period that morning to read through all the literature that Berkley had sent. They were a little disappointed not to find any information about student housing for married couples or housing available off campus. Troy rang the number provided on the campus housing brochure and explained the situation. How he had been offered a basketball scholarship that included housing and that his wife had also received a full scholarship to Stanford that also included accommodation and that he was ringing to enquire if there was any housing available that they could share preferably somewhere in between the two colleges.

To say the housing officer at Berkley was surprised would be an understatement. Occasionally they had older married students but rarely from two different colleges and never before in her memory a first year scholarship student. However she did look up the various married accommodation options for them and was able to offer them either married accommodation on the Berkeley campus or in a small student housing apartment block near the California State University East Bay Campus in Hayward. She warned Troy though that his scholarship would only cover the equivalent of normal single on campus accommodation costs which would only be sixty-one percent of the actual cost of married accommodation on campus or sixty-eight percent of the cost of the apartment she was offering him in Hayward and that there was no guarantee that Stanford would agree to the option of paying for off campus married accommodation as part of his wife's scholarship. Troy asked her to put his name down for one of these married student flats in Hayward and said that he'd get back to her about whether Stanford would cover the rest of the cost or whether they'd be paying themselves.

The housing officer also told him that he should investigate the possibility of living on campus at Stanford even though Berkeley did not have the same agreement with Stanford that they had with California State and therefore they would not be able to offer him any subsidisation on accommodation at Stanford if they chose to live on campus there.

Gabriella then rang the housing officer at Stanford with the same request explaining that her husband had already enquired and had been allocated married housing in Hayward and she wondered if Stanford would subsidise her half of the flat as part of her scholarship. Unfortunately the housing officer was unable to give her an answer without consulting various higher authorities as Stanford didn't normally provide off campus accommodation for their scholarship students. They would however allocate her married housing on campus and cover seventy –five percent of the rent. This was not as good a deal as it sounded however as the total rent was significantly higher than it would be at Hayward or Berkeley so the balance they would have to pay was actually more expensive. She was advised to put her request in writing and email it to the housing officer and the also whomever had signed the letter informing her of her scholarship.

Troy drove Gabriella home during lunch so she could send the emails off to Stanford. They were both too impatient to wait for the end of the day.

"What are we going to do if they say no?" Gabriella asked anxiously as she returned to the kitchen where Troy was making them something to eat.

"What we thought we'd have to do when I first proposed" Troy replied as calmly as he could "each have our own place on campus and move between them depending on our schedules."

"That will take an awful lot of organization Troy" Gabriella warned him. "I don't know how sustainable it would be if we each live in two different places we'd always be needing the things that we'd left at the other place. I think we'd end up having to spend most of our time at our own campus and only be together on weekends." She left it unsaid that while she may be capable of that level of organisation, Troy was not.

"Yeah" he sighed dejectedly. "A month ago that didn't seem too bad. It was better than any other alternative we could come up with but now having lived together a couple of nights a week just aren't going to be enough."

"You are right it will be hard but it's not so bad, we've just been spoilt living together. We will make it work Troy, it's only four years and we will be together on weekends and holidays" Gabriella tried to reassure him.

"Not once Basketball season starts; even if we were living together there would be away games where I wouldn't see you for days... we could be away two or three weekends in a row."

Gabriella frowned at that thought. "We don't know for sure yet that Stanford won't agree to pay for me to stay at Hayward. If Berkeley pay 68% then it will probably be a lot cheaper for them to agree to pay the other 32% than to provide me with my own room on campus. And the people I've spoken to about courses all seemed really keen to have me so with a bit of luck that might sweeten the deal." She said optimistically

Troy laughed "Yeah that's true. I won't give up hope yet."

"Aren't you going to sign the acceptance forms?" Gabriella asked.

"No not yet, I'll speak to the sports people about the problem maybe they can do something about it if they think I might sign somewhere else if we can't get this accommodation offer we want. Especially since Boston U is only about 15 minutes from MIT and we both have scholarship offers there too" He grinned.

Gabriella shivered at the thought, "Boston gets an average of 42 inches of snow in winter I don't want to live there." she stated unequivocally. "And you would hate having to run inside all the time."

"I don't want to go to Boston U. either but Berkley and Stanford don't need to know that do they?" he winked.

Gabriella laughed and gathered up her stuff to return to school.

December 18 Wednesday

Eduardo frowned as he packed his bags for the trip to Cuba. He looked around his room critically it was an almost obsessively tidy, tastefully appointed man's room like the rest of his apartment with no feminine touches or clutter spoiling the clean lines he preferred. In reality it looked more like a hotel suite than a home. He dreaded to think how much Gabriella's presence would change his calm ordered existence. He prayed that she wasn't a typically messy teenager.

At the time of signing, the marriage contract seemed like an acceptable way to gain entry into the business world he desired. He'd been young and ambitious, in a hurry to succeed, and ten years back then seemed like too far in the distant future to worry about. And he had to admit that he'd benefitted enormously from the contacts gained by becoming the future son-in-law of Alejandro Montez. Gabriella had been a sweet child and the marriage had seemed impossibly far off. Now however it was time to pay the piper.

Over the ten years since the signing of the contract Eduardo had become a successful business man in his own right, though he'd always be grateful for the start the Montez family had given him. Five years ago he'd begun to slowly distance himself from Alejandro's business empire and he'd made his home in Detroit where his manufacturing plants supplied numerous components to the car industry. He had a beautiful and intelligent mistress who he knew still harboured hopes of becoming his wife in spite of the fact that he'd been honest about his betrothal when they'd started their liaison four years earlier. He knew he would be doing the right thing to end the affair, but he had become more emotionally attached than he had expected he would.

He was to be married to a sixteen year old, a young girl he knew nothing about except for the fact that according to her high school transcripts and grade point average she was both studious and highly intelligent. He'd received the transcripts several weeks ago, ostensibly so that he could enrol her into a local high school. The very thought made him shudder. A wife that was still in High School, those of his friends who weren't completely disgusted would laugh their heads off. This could ruin him socially. He gratefully realized that she actually had enough credits to graduate. He therefore decided not to enrol Gabriella into school though he felt guilty at depriving her of her education after she'd obviously put so much effort into her work.

Eduardo wondered if he could use this as a valid reason to postpone the wedding. The girl had been accepted into Stanford. He thought it would be better for everyone if she attended college and then they got married after she graduated? After graduation she'd be old enough to be an asset to his life instead of the major embarrassment and liability she would be currently. Hell some of his colleagues had children almost that age, he would be seen as a paedophile.

Even if Alejandro and Maria wouldn't agree to delay the wedding, it might be worth it to still send her to Stanford and if possible to avoid introducing her to any of his friends and colleagues in America for several years. A side benefit of keeping Gabriella away from Detroit would be that he wouldn't have to change his lifestyle and habits, but to do that he would have to set her up somewhere until she started at Stanford. He wondered if Maria would agree to let her stay and finish her senior year, or perhaps she would enjoy spending a semester as an exchange student in Italy or Spain seeing she had studied both languages.

It was five to seven when Troy, Gabriella and Lucille arrived at Reverend and Mrs Anderson's that night. Reverend Anderson answered the door and greeted them warmly, pleased that they had brought one of their parents with them and with the apparent lack of tension between them all.

"I'm very pleased to meet you Mrs Bolton. I know it cannot have been easy for you to accept Troy and Gabriella's marriage." Reverend Anderson said warmly.

"I won't ask why you agreed to marry them Reverend. I know when my son sets his mind to something he can be an unstoppable force." Lucille said with a rueful smile.

"If it was just his mind that was set on getting married I wouldn't have agreed. It was obvious he had set his heart and soul on marrying Gabriella. You have a very fine son Mrs Bolton. And to be honest conducting their wedding was a pleasure, very rarely do I see a couple whose love is so unmistakably pure as Troy and Gabriella's" the reverend assured her.

Mrs Anderson came down the stairs, "Troy, Gabriella" she greeted "I think you'll be very pleased with the way the photos turned out." She led them into the dining room where her laptop was waiting.

She fired up the laptop and opened the file she needed before sliding it over in front of the other three.

Mrs Anderson had done an outstanding job, the photographs were easily as good as any of the most expensive professional wedding photographers could have taken. She had arrived at the chapel early with her husband and the first shots showed Troy arriving and the expressions on his friend's faces as he'd explained what they were doing in the chapel. Then getting ready, nervously trying to tie his bowtie with Chad's unhelpful attempts to assist before Ryan stepped in and tied it for him, the five boys standing together supporting Troy and a rather humorous shot of Ryan standing in the entryway holding the flowers ready to give to Gabriella as she came in.

Then came the photos of the wedding itself, Troy's awed expression as he first saw Gabriella and Gabriella smiling as she walked down the aisle towards him. The two of them during their vows and their first kiss as man and wife. Then came some more casual shots of the group as a whole before some formal photos of the couple outside the chapel.

"Wow! They're great" Gabriella exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Troy agreed.

Lucille burst into tears "You did a wonderful job capturing it all" she sobbed.

"Mama" Troy queried worriedly wrapping his arms around his mother. He held her as she laid her head on his shoulder and cried. Gabriella smiled reassuringly at him with her hand on his shoulder for support. Eventually Lucille began to calm down.

"I'm sorry. It's just seeing the photos I can see what I missed out on. I wish I could have been there" she explained tears still running down her face.

"I'm sorry Mama." Troy looked guilty and sad. "I wish you could have been there too. I never meant to hurt you."

"I understand that Troy, you felt you had no choice. And you were right we would probably have tried to stop you, and I'd definitely have called Maria and told her. Even if we didn't succeed in stopping the wedding we would have caused a scene and ruined the ceremony. I'm not angry or disappointed in you for not telling me. I'm just sad that I wasn't able to be there on your wedding day. I'll get over it but it just may take a while." She pulled herself together. "But we need to get back to this, I've wasted enough of the Reverend and Mrs Anderson's time."

"If you have a USB key I can load the photos you want onto it, I offered to organise the printing of the enlargements you wanted because I get quite a substantial bulk discount if I run it through with the other jobs I do all the printing for the wedding and funeral booklets for the church and quite a few baptism photos."

"That would be great" Gabriella replied handing over her and Troy's USB. They then discussed which prints they wanted enlargements of and what sizes they wanted, choosing some to keep and also some to give as gifts for their family.

Troy rang Mrs Anderson as they were on their way home to ask for an enlargement of his mother's favourite photo to also be added to their order for her for Christmas.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and iminlove 13 for your support.

I've always disliked it when authors ask for reviews but it is a bit disheartening when over 100 people are reading my story but only 4 bother to review it. It only takes a few seconds.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Disclaimer: I do not own high School Musical or any of its characters.

December 19 Thursday

Maria arranged to pick her daughter up from school that afternoon knowing that Troy had basketball training. She wanted an opportunity to have a serious discussion about their marriage without the chance of being overheard.

"Gabriella I need to ask you something, it's very personal and you don't need to tell me the answer but I need to know that you have considered this."

Gabriella nodded confused, her mother looked nervous and was behaving quite oddly, she waited impatiently.

"Are you aware that your marriage to Troy is not valid until it has been consummated." Maria had been surprised when she didn't hear the sounds of lovemaking through the walls, and had wondered if the young couple had decided to wait or were just too uncomfortable to have sex knowing she was in the next room.

Gabriella blushed and stammered "Yes mum... I... we..."

Maria quickly interrupted her daughter "Please don't tell me. I don't want to know. Though I must thank you for your consideration in not forcing me to hear my sixteen year old daughter having sex."

Gabriella was a little angry with this, her mother was totally in denial of the idea of she and Troy having sex but had been willing to have her marry and have sex with a stranger. "It's not for your benefit that we don't want you hearing us" she said shortly. "Why are you talking to me about this when you clearly don't want to know?"

"Your father will send his people to find us when we don't turn up on Sunday, and from what Lucille said you will have limited opportunities to be alone while we are away. I'm going out for drinks with some colleagues tonight and I wanted you to..."

"You're telling me to have sex tonight while you're out?" Gabriella said bluntly.

"If you haven't already then it would be a good idea to at least consider it." Maria said deliberately avoiding looking at her daughter, "there's a casserole in the fridge to heat up" she then went and shut herself in her office.

Gabriella sat in the kitchen a little stunned by the conversation, she couldn't believe her mother was encouraging them to have sex, and leaving the house to give them the privacy to do it.

Troy arrived home about half an hour later to find Gabriella still sitting in the kitchen in the darkness of the approaching evening with her head in her hands.

"Gabriella! What's wrong?" he asked concerned, leaning over to kiss her cheek before sitting in the chair next to her.

"Oh Troy, What are you doing home so early?" she asked distractedly not having noticed his arrival until he kissed her.

"I'm not early it's nearly six o'clock. Have you been sitting here all afternoon? What's the matter?" Troy was beginning to seriously worry.

"Nothing's wrong I was just thinking over something" Gabriella replied vaguely.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked not wanting to pry if she wasn't ready to talk.

"Maybe later. Are you hungry?" Gabriella asked getting up to reheat their dinner.

"I'm always hungry" Troy answered with a slight smile, watching his wife closely.

"Well put your bag away and dinner will be ready in about half an hour."

Troy went through to the laundry to put his basketball clothes on to wash and took his bag upstairs to repack with clean uniforms for the following day. He got his maths books out and went down to sit at the kitchen table with Gabriella while he did his homework.

Troy kept glancing at Gabriella as he tried to concentrate on his homework; he was concerned that she seemed to be worrying about something.

The timer on the oven dinged and Troy put away his books and dished up their dinner. Gabriella pushed the food around on her plate without eating.

"Okay! Enough's enough. What is worrying you Gabi? Have I done anything wrong?" he asked wracking his brain to work out how he might have upset her.

"No Troy it's not you. I was thinking about something Mum said" she answered.

Troy looked up surprised "What did she say that's upset you?" he asked concerned.

"I'm not upset. I was surprised by what she said. And I've been sitting here thinking it over." She smiled at Troy "and as scary as it seems I think she's right."

Troy was totally lost Gabriella wasn't making sense at all. "Gabriella, you need to tell me what you're talking about. What did your Mum say?"

"She told me that we should have sex tonight" Gabriella said bluntly without emotion.

"WHAT!?" Luckily Troy had finished eating or he would have choked.

"She reminded me that our marriage isn't valid until it has been consummated and then informed me that she would be out of the house until eleven o'clock and that I should think about making the most of the opportunity" Gabriella told an astounded Troy.

"Gabi we already consummated our marriage, it doesn't matter how long it is before we have sex again our marriage is perfectly valid" Troy reminded her gently.

"Yeah I tried to tell Mum that" Gabriella agreed smiling at the memory of her mother's reaction.

"So what have you been sitting here worrying about? I don't understand. You know I'm happy to wait until you feel ready." Troy said calmly.

"That's the thing Troy. I think I am ready" she said blushing.

"Gabi please don't do this." Troy said getting up and starting to wash the dishes as a way of avoiding looking at his wife.

"Don't do what Troy?" Gabriella asked perplexed at Troy's reaction, and hurt by his lack of enthusiasm.

"Don't keep trying to push yourself into being ready to have sex. You're just making it harder for both of us" he said sadly "I really am willing to wait as long as you need. Years if that's what you want. I've been trying really hard not to pressure you [lease don't keep pressuring yourself into it."

"I really do think I am ready this time Troy. I'm not making a decision in the heat of the moment. I was ready to tell Mum that we had already consummated our marriage I was okay with having her know; it was mum that didn't want to discuss it. It didn't even bother me that Mum left the house tonight thinking that we were going to have sex. I'm ready Troy" Gabriella said determinedly.

"Are you really sure Gabi? You're sure you want me to go and get the condoms from Mum and Dad's?" Troy clarified wanting to give her the chance to back out.

"Yes Troy I'm sure, do you want me to come with you?" she asked determinedly.

"No, it will be quicker if I go by myself. But Gabriella I want you to think about this while I'm gone, it's okay for you to change your mind again" Troy said hoping that if she was going to change her mind she would do so while he was at his parents and not during their lovemaking.

Gabriella decided to humour him rather than argue "All right Troy I'll keep thinking about it."

He kissed her lightly "I just want you to be happy" he said softly before leaving the house.

Troy was worried as he drove over to his parents' he desperately hoped he was doing the right thing. He hadn't lied to Gabriella when he'd told her that he would wait until she was ready to have sex again, but he hadn't expected Gabriella to make it so difficult. If she changed her mind again... well he would accept it of course but he wished she'd stop doing this it would be easier to resign himself to waiting if she didn't keep getting his hopes up. He knew she wasn't deliberately trying to tease him, and understood that she wanted to continue to develop their relationship, and that she was scared he just wished she would allow things to develop in their own time rather than trying to push herself into ignoring her fears rather than taking the time to overcome them properly. He felt a little guilty for the way he was thinking but he didn't know how many more times Gabriella could change her mind like this before he lost his temper with her and said something they would both regret.

After a short conversation with his mum Troy went upstairs and put the condoms in his bag before looking around for something else that he could pretend was the thing he'd needed to come to collect, unfortunately Gabriella had helped him to pack and she was so efficient that nothing had been forgotten. Grabbing an old pair of shoes and a pair of jeans that must have been in the wash when he packed he went back downstairs and ducked his head in to the lounge to say goodbye to his father.

"Hey Troy, stay and watch the game" his father was watching Basketball reruns.

"No thanks Dad Gabriella's waiting for me" Troy declined gently.

"Oh okay then I'll see you at school tomorrow" said Jack clearly disappointed.

"I could meet you in the park for a little one-on-one during our run tomorrow about 6ish." Troy really had missed the time he and his father used to spend together training in the morning.

Jack smiled he knew that Troy would have to run much further than he normally did on a weekday to get to the park and was pleased that he wanted to make the effort to spend time with him. "Yeah that would be great son. I'll see you there."

Troy went and hugged his mum "Bye Mama, see you soon" he said warmly.

"Bye Troy, can you come for dinner tomorrow? I'll make lasagne" Lucille invited forgetting that it would be game day.

"Sounds great Mama, Gabriella and I will be here about six if that's okay." Troy said hoping that his mum hadn't wanted him to come alone.

"That's fine Troy. Give my love to Gabriella." Lucille smiled.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13, JesselyricsR5 and the two anonymous guests who reviewed the last chapter.

Kiara: I'm not sure, perhaps a total of about 80 to 90. I'm still dividing them up as I do the final editing but I'm also writing new bits as I edit so maybe more than that.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella thought it over for a few moments after Troy left to fulfil her agreement with Troy, mostly though she was trying to think of a way to convince Troy that she wasn't going to change her mind at the last minute again. She went upstairs and undressed taking a quick shower and returning to her room wrapped in a large bath towel. She was still a little self conscious about having Troy see her naked but she realised that until she could do this Troy would not take her seriously when she claimed to be ready to have sex.

Knowing that it would be easier in low lighting she made sure the curtains were closed then turned off the main light leaving the room lit only by the bedside lamp. Shivering from both nervousness and cold she threw the towel in the hamper, pulled the quilt of the bed and wrapped it around herself and sat down to wait.

Troy arrived back at Gabriella's and found all of the downstairs lights turned off. Hoping that she wasn't sitting in the dark again Troy went upstairs looking for Gabriella.

As he opened the bedroom door Gabriella gave him a nervous smile and stood up dropping her quilt to the floor.

Troy knew that he shouldn't stare at her, that she was insecure about her body but he couldn't help himself.

"God you're beautiful" he said in awe.

Gabriella blushed and moved to cover herself with her hands and Troy leapt forwards to stop her, holding both her hands in his he says "Gabriella you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You are the most beautiful and sexy woman I have ever seen."

"And just how many naked women have you seen Troy Bolton?" She attempted to tease him.

Troy blushed "Well none other than you except for movies and magazines, but you're the most beautiful woman I could imagine."

"You're saying that you think I'm sexier than movie stars?" Gabriella asked astonished.

"More sexy than the Lakers cheerleaders or Megan Fox or the supermodels" Troy confirmed nodding.

Gabriella laughed and hugged him.

Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella gently at first and then more passionately, "Are you sure?" he asked breaking off, "We can just fool around a bit if you'd prefer."

"I'm sure Troy, Don't you want to?" Gabriella didn't know how she'd feel about that. Sure she'd have to agree after how patient Troy had been with her but to be rejected like this hurt. She now had a better insight into how Troy must have been feeling the last few weeks and how amazingly patient he had been with her.

"Oh God Gabriella! You can't know how much I want this. But I don't want to hurt you, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to stop if you change your mind again once we get close." Troy didn't know how he would cope if she changed her mind at the last minute again. He would find it difficult to continue to be supportive and understanding as he knew he should be.

"Troy I trust you. I know you will stop if it's humanly possible, and if I've pushed you beyond the point of no return then that will be my fault not yours. I don't intend to change my mind again but I don't blame you for hesitating. I'm sorry I've made it so hard for you." Gabriella blushed at the unintended double meaning.

She lifted the hem of his shirt and ran her hand underneath it up his chest. She reached up on tiptoes and kissed him, moving her free hand into his hair and pulling his face down towards her to deepen the kiss. He was hesitant at first kissing her tenderly. She kissed him back with all of the passion and burning desire she felt inciting his passion in return.

She broke the kiss only when her lungs began screaming for air. Panting she quickly pulled his shirt over his head and dove back in to kiss him again. Her hands dropped to his waist fumbling with his belt buckle and jeans' buttons.

She was so focused on how good it felt kissing Troy that she forgot to be nervous or self conscious, forgot to feel afraid, and for just that one moment, she simply lived. Her hand shaking from desire she slowly pushed down his jeans and boxers before running her hands over his perfect muscle toned ass.

Troy broke off the embrace to kick his shoes socks and pants off his feet and lifted Gabriella up and carried her the few steps to place her in the centre of her bed.

Gabriella briefly resurfaced from her desire driven daze as she felt the coolness of the sheets touch her back. She looked up at Troy nervously seeing his eyes filled with desire and love for her and suddenly she was no longer afraid, she wanted, needed to make love with him with all of her body and soul, she was truly ready.

"Love me Troy" she begged him.

"I love you Gabriella" he replied climbing onto the bed and crawling over her, leaning down he kissed her until their lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen before moving his lips downwards to caress the hollows of her throat and collarbone.

Gabriella threw her head back giving him more access unthinkingly pressing her breasts against his chest.

Troy slowly kissed his way downward to her breasts peppering them with light pecks until Gabriella grabbed his head and pulled it down "Kiss me properly" she demanded.

Finally Troy took her engorged nipple into his mouth swirling his tongue around the areola causing Gabriella to moan as heat throbbed through her lower abdomen.

Transferring his attentions to her other breast Troy cupped the first gently with his hand. After bringing Gabriella almost to the brink of orgasm from the feel of his attention to her breasts and nipples alone Troy made his way downwards kissing around her bellybutton and along her hip bones as his hands slowly rubbed up and down her thighs.

"Troy" Gabriella pleaded needing more.

Troy stopped just short of kissing her mound and blew warm air softly over her, Gabriella shuddered and raised her hips demandingly seeking his mouth on her most sensitive and private place. "Troy please" she begged.

Troy lowered his head and kissed her pubic mound before running his tongue along the outside of her labia, Gabriella opened her legs wider wordlessly asking for more. His tongue found and circled her clit before he sucked it gently. Troy carefully inserted one finger into her while continuing his ministrations of her clitoris with his tongue relieved when Gabriella didn't flinch or pull away, he leisurely moved his finger in and out before adding a second finger and bending them slightly as the research he'd done lately recommended.

Gabriella screamed Troy's name as she orgasmed, the sound of her pleasure, the sensation of her inner walls squeezing his hand, and the smell and taste of her juices almost enough to bring Troy to the brink of coming himself.

Troy continued to stimulate her with his fingers as he moved back up the bed to cuddle her as she recovered from her release. He tentatively kissed her not knowing how she would react to tasting herself on his lips and tongue but she didn't seem to mind.

"Make love to me Troy" she asked breaking the kiss.

Troy leaned up on one elbow to better see her expression, "You know we don't have to" he offered "I'm perfectly happy with the step you've taken tonight you don't need to..." Gabriella cut him off by pulling his head back down into a kiss.

"Troy please make love to me" she repeated keeping a finger over his lips to prevent him from arguing.

Troy untangled himself from Gabriella's embrace and climbed out of the bed walking towards the door.

"Troy no, come back I..." Gabriella panicked thinking she'd driven him away.

Troy turned around and smiled "Shh Gabi it's okay I'm not running away" he opened the door and grabbed his bag which he had dropped and forgotten in the hallway when Gabriella had dropped the quilt earlier. Shutting the door he rummaged through the bag to find the condoms.

"Oh, I would have forgotten again" Gabriella said ashamed.

"It's okay baby we didn't forget" he said sitting on the side of the bed and leaning down to kiss her cheek.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked getting a packet out of the box and handing it to Gabriella.

Gabriella's hands shook slightly as she tore open the foil but her smile didn't waver "I'm sure" she said reaching for him and carefully rolling the condom onto his straining erection.

Troy then took control pushing her gently back onto the bed and moving on top of her lining himself up with her opening.

Gabriella tried to relax her body as Troy slowly entered her. She was very pleasantly surprised, other than a slight stretching there was only a satisfying feeling of fullness instead of the tearing pain she had experienced last time. Troy had been watching Gabriella carefully, sighed in relief when he felt himself buried to the hilt without any sign of pain in her eyes or expression.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked still concerned that he may have.

"No not at all. It feels wonderful" she encouraged him truthfully not just meaning the physical pleasure but also the soul deep connection that she felt being together like this.

Gabriella arched her hips upwards driving him in even deeper as Troy began to thrust.

And then she stopped thinking entirely, in favour of all the sensations he was calling forth, the pleasure of loving and being loved… ecstasy swept through her body and she cried out as she came.

Gabriella welcomed the weight as Troy collapsed on top of her pushing her into the mattress, holding her securely.

"Am I too heavy?" he asked sleepily.

"No I like it" Gabriella reassured him unwilling to part from him.

"I love you Gabriella" Troy said as he rolled them both over so that Gabriella was sprawled on top of him still joined in the most intimate way as he fell asleep.

"Love you too Troy" Gabriella replied snuggling into his chest and closing her eyes.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5 and hadiknowhowtosavealife for your support.


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

December 20 Friday. Last day of term

Unusually Gabriella woke first the next morning still lying mostly on top of Troy. She stiffened for a moment acutely aware of her nakedness then forced herself to relax. She was determined not to let Troy know how uncomfortable she still was with having him see her without clothes. She didn't regret making love last night and she didn't want Troy to either. Troy woke soon after just as Gabriella was staring to drift back to sleep. He ran his hands down her back as he stretched and looked at Gabriella with a nervous but happy grin.

"Good morning Gabi" he said huskily

Gabriella smiled "Good morning Troy. How did you sleep?"

"Great. How are you?" he asked searching her face anxiously.

"I'm good Troy, I feel fine" she said smiling.

"No regrets?" he asked softly holding his breath.

"No regrets" Gabriella assured him kissing him lightly.

"I hate to do this Babe but I promised Dad I'd meet him this morning so I've got to go" Troy said regretfully making no move to actually get up.

"It's okay Troy, you better get going then, because you don't want to keep him waiting" she said still lying on top of him.

"Are you really all right with this? I can call him if you want me to stay" Troy offered.

"I know you Troy you'll have trouble sitting still in class and concentrating if you haven't run. And it's game day so you need to de-stress. Go run with your dad." Gabriella encouraged him.

Troy rolled her off him and got out of bed. He picked up his shirt from last night and handed it to Gabriella before pulling on his running clothes and heading out to meet his father in the park.

Gabriella smiled at this thoughtfulness, he had remembered that she had felt awkward about being naked the morning after last time and had provided a solution without comment or fuss. She pulled on the shirt and snuggled down into the quilts to get another half hour of sleep.

Jack was already shooting hoops when Troy arrived. "Sorry I'm late" he exclaimed stealing the ball and going left to shoot.

"No problem Son, I had less distance to come" Jack said casually.

They played for several minutes without talking. Troy had missed this, not being coached or training but just having fun playing ball with his dad.

"Is there a reason you wanted to meet me this morning?" Jack asked as they grabbed their water bottles and left the court. He could see Troy seemed happy but was concerned that his son had asked to meet because he needed help in some way.

"No, I've missed playing with you. It's too far to run every day but I find it much harder to motivate myself to get up and run on my own" Troy said smiling.

"Are you sure that's not Gabriella's fault?" Jack joked.

Troy laughed "that's part of it sure, but I just don't enjoy running alone as much as I did with you. And I see you every day but it feels like we never have time to just hang out like we used to."

Jack smiled, pleased that Troy felt the same way he did about their early morning sessions. "You'll be home again soon enough and complaining when I drag you out of bed each morning" he reminded his son.

"Probably" Troy agreed. "But you'll keep doing it anyway no matter how much I bitch about getting up early."

"Yeah" Jack smirked "but I bet you won't stay in bed and make me come in and physically drag you out anymore."

Troy groaned picturing how embarrassed Gabriella would be if that happened. "Yeah, you're right Gabriella would have me sleeping on the couch if I let that happen."

"You never told me how you got on with Berkeley have you accepted their offer?" Jack knew Troy was planning to accept an offer from USC Berkeley but didn't know if this first offer had been accepted or if Troy was negotiating for something more."

"No not yet though I will if they don't make a better offer soon."

"What more did you want them to offer?" Jack was surprised Berkeley was a top school with a Division 1 basketball team and the offer had been extremely good, better than Jack had hoped for for his son.

"We've asked for them to provide married accommodation in Hayward. It's about half way between Berkeley and Stanford." Troy explained.

"You know you will be missing out on a large part of the college experience by not living on campus" Jack wanted his son to be sure that he was willing to give up that part of college life.

"Yeah Dad I realize, but I'd rather be with Gabriella than out partying and drinking every night. And besides I'm sure it will be better for my grades" Troy said lightly.

"Undoubtedly" Jack agreed dryly, "but not all of the learning you get from being at college comes from the classes. By already being married and living with Gabriella off campus you've skipped that whole in between lifestyle from leaving home to really settling down. I just hope you don't end up resenting it when you see the rest of your team free to go out partying and living the bachelor life."

"You want me to live on campus, and party and drink every weekend and pick up cheerleaders and stuff?" Troy asked astonished.

"No of course not, but I don't want you to regret not having had the opportunity to make that choice" Jack said seriously.

"Dad I've had that choice. You may not have wanted to see it, but the captain of the team traditionally could sleep with a different cheerleader every week if he wanted to. I know that Donovan did and I've had plenty of offers, to be honest I still get more offers than I want to think about from a surprising number of girls. Even before I met Gabriella I didn't want that lifestyle and now I have so much more than any casual relationship could offer. I'm happy with the choices I'm making Dad. "

Jack looked at his son and smiled he'd become a man to be proud of. "Well if you're sure then I'll drop it" he said.

"Thanks Dad"

"Tell me more about this offer you got, and what you're hoping they'll add to it."

"Well so far Berkeley has offered to pay 61% of the cost off a married apartment at California State – East Bay Campus in Hayward, or 68% of married accommodation on campus at Berkeley itself, which is not actually a better deal because the overall cost of married housing is higher at Berkeley. Stanford have also made Gabriella a similar offer but Hayward is still the cheapest and the most sensible option. We are waiting to hear if Stanford will pay the rest."

"The rest of the offer is more than I expected. I'm sure Lucille and I could afford to pay 20% if Maria pays the other 20%" Jack offered.

"Thanks Dad," Troy said gratefully "but we're still hopeful that either Berkeley or Stanford will cover it. Gabriella will need to buy a car too if she doesn't live on campus."

"You will need a more reliable car too if you're going to drive 17 mile to classes each day" Jack said.

"My truck just needs a little more work" Troy defended his beloved but ancient truck.

"Troy any car as old as your truck will always need more work" Jack reminded him. "And I'm happy to help you keep it running until you leave but what are you going to do when it breaks down in California. You will be too busy to spend hours fixing it every week and it will be cheaper to replace it than to continually hire a mechanic. Not to mention that you can't afford to be constantly missing class or practice because you've broken down."

Troy sighed, his father had a point. And half the fun of fixing up his truck was spending quality time with his dad away from the pressure of Basketball, without him there to help fixing the truck would become a chore as well as being a lot more difficult. "Yeah I know you're right I'm just not ready to let it go."

"Well you don't have to give it up yet" his father consoled him. "We can keep working on it but with a car that old something will always need fixing or replacing. You need to be sensible about it Troy. We can keep it here for you to use on breaks but you need a better car in California."

"Yeah. I've got to go. I'm going to be late." Troy answered heading towards the Montez house.

"See you at school" his father called turning the other way towards the Bolton house.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13, JesselyricsR5 and Siobhan for your support.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy raced into the house panting and rushed through showering and dressing for school, picked up his bag and ran through the kitchen grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and Gabriella looked up at him amused and handed him a plate of pancakes. "Sit and eat" she demanded smiling.

"We're going to be late if I stop and eat" Troy protested.

"And you have a Basketball game this afternoon. You will make yourself sick if you don't eat Troy" she argued pushing him into his chair.

"Troy relented and shovelled down his breakfast as quickly as he could while Gabriella collected her bag and Troy's keys.

They were late for homeroom but Mrs Darbus generously let them off with a warning. The halls were awash with red and white in preparation for the game that afternoon. Troy and Gabriella followed their usual game day routine of eating lunch alone together in the rooftop garden, giving Troy time to calm down from all the hype. School finished early on the last day of term and the game was due to start at two.

Gabriella sat in the front row with Lucille wearing Troy's basketball jacket over her shoulders though it was warm enough in the stadium not to need it. "Can you see any scouts?" she asked Lucille curiously knowing that her mother in law had the experience to recognise them if there were any present.

Lucille glanced around the stadium quickly "No but I wouldn't expect any scouts to be here today. This is the bottom team we're playing so none of the opposition players are likely to be scouted at all and anyone scouting the Wildcats will probably want to come to a more competitive game to get a more accurate assessment of the players and so they can scout two teams at once. Why is Troy hoping for another offer somewhere?"

"No he wants to go to Berkeley and they've made a pretty good offer. I was just curious. No scouts means less pressure right?" Gabriella asked hopefully.

Lucille smiled and nodded "Yes though this should be an easy game for the wildcats anyway." The starting siren rang and the two Mrs Boltons sat watching the game cheering on Troy and the team.

Troy and the team played well and easily won their game as they expected.

Gabriella ran down to congratulate Troy, kissing him and hugging him in spite of the fact he was dripping with sweat. She'd missed being able to do this for the first couple of games of the season prevented first by her mother and then the last game they had played away in an unfamiliar gym and he'd been caught up by scouts before she could get down to the floor.

"Go shower up I'll be waiting" she said after congratulating the rest of the team.

Troy made sure to shower thoroughly even though he wanted to hurry back to Gabriella. He came out of the change rooms to find Gabriella standing flanked by Taylor and Martha facing the rest of the senior cheerleaders. He couldn't hear what had been said but the tension in the air was pretty thick. Forcing himself to act casually he strolled over and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Hey there Mrs Bolton" he said to her "are you ready to get out of here?"

Gabriella smiled knowing that Troy was nowhere near as oblivious as he seemed, "Sure let's go." She turned to Taylor, "We'll see you and Chad later?"

"Are you going to the party?" Martha asked.

"We'll probably call in for a bit later but Mum wants us to come for dinner" Troy replied cheerfully.

"Still such a Mama's boy? How on earth do you put up with him Gabster" said Chad coming up behind them.

Gabriella laughed "Lucky for me his Mom loves me" she replied lightly.

"Mum's cooking lasagne" Troy teased his friend.

"Bugger the party I'm going to Troy's for dinner" Chad stated earning himself a slap on the back of the head from Taylor. "What! You can come too" he said. Troy, Gabriella, Zeke, Jason and Martha laughed.

Taylor rolled her eyes at him "You can't just invite yourself to dinner like that" she scolded.

"I always did before what's the problem?"

"Troy doesn't live at home anymore. His Mom wants to spend some time with him and Gabriella" Taylor explained in a voice that suggested she was talking to a small child.

"Oh Sorry Captain" Chad called to his departing friend

"It's okay Chad Mom probably misses you too" Troy laughed as he and Gabriella walked through the door.

Troy and Gabriella arrive a little late for dinner with the Boltons. "Sorry we're late Mama" Troy said, "We were talking to Chad and Taylor and lost track of time."

"That's fine Troy I know you needed to spend some time with you team after the game. I feel a bit selfish asking you to come tonight, I just wasn't thinking about basketball last night when I invited you" his mother replied.

"Don't let Dad hear you say that" Troy teased exaggeratedly looking around the room as if afraid his father was in earshot.

Lucille laughed and hugged her son before turning and hugging Gabriella as well. "Thanks for dragging him away from Chad and the team before he forgot all about dinner" she said to the younger Mrs Bolton.

"He was in no danger of forgetting; in fact Chad threatened to drop by for dinner too."

"Well Chad has always been welcome but we haven't seen much of him for the last month or so" Lucille said lightly. She then turned to Troy in concern "Have you two had a falling out?"

"No Mama we've just been busy. And I see plenty of Chad at school. You just haven't seen him because I haven't been here for him to visit the last couple of weeks and I was busy organising the wedding before that." Troy attempted to reassure his mother.

Lucille gave Troy a look which said quite plainly that she was only temporarily letting the subject drop. "Dinner's ready. Can you get your father, he's in his study" she asked.

"Sure thing Mom" Troy replied cheerfully going to look for his father.

Lucille turned to Gabriella as soon as Troy was out of earshot "Is everything really okay between Troy and Chad? Has he accepted your marriage?" she asked anxiously.

Gabriella laughed "Yeah Chad's fine with everything, he even declared himself the best man and gave a speech after the wedding. He keeps asking me to let him organise a belated bachelor party."

Lucille turned to her in horror "Please tell me you haven't agreed" she begged visions running through her head of the more extreme bachelor parties she'd heard stories of, combined with some of Chad's more outlandish schemes from the past.

"No, I would have agreed if Troy wanted to have a bachelor party, but when I asked him he said that he'd rather not" Gabriella attempted to reassure her mother in law. "The problem is that I'm worried that Chad might try to organise one anyhow" she added less reassuringly.

Lucille sighed "Yes he probably will" she agreed, "but you should keep reminding him that he hasn't got permission. If he knows that he's going behind your back to do it then he'll have to try to keep it a secret from you and the other girls and that will limit how huge and crazy the party will be for fear that you will kill him if you find out."

"Who are you going to kill?" Troy asked laughing as he and Jack walked into the dining room and took their seats.

"Chad when he throws you a bachelor party" Gabriella said dryly.

"But you already told him not to" Troy said surprised. He knew Chad probably would try to sneak in some sort of bachelor party but he didn't realise that Gabriella knew his friend well enough to recognise that.

"Yes that's why I will kill him when he does" Gabriella retorted unimpressed.

Troy nodded in agreement. "Okay then, call me when you need me to come hide the body." Gabriella and Lucille laughed.

Troy had been telling the truth when he told Gabriella that he didn't want a bachelor party. He wouldn't mind a small quiet get together with the guys but didn't want it to get out of hand. And if Chad was involved in planning the party he knew that getting out of hand would be pretty much guaranteed.

Lucille handed around the plates and conversation stopped as they all enjoyed Lucille's wonderful lasagne, after some small talk and last minute planning for the following morning Troy and Gabriella said their goodbyes. They knew that there was a Wildcat party that night but decided to head home and finish packing and have an early night as the following morning would probably be quite long and stressful.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, iminlove13 and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of High School Musical.

A/N: I have never been to America and any knowledge of the towns in my story has come from Wikipedia and the tourist sites on the internet. I mean no offence to anyone living in this area.

December 21 Saturday

They'd decided to use a similar version of the plan Gabriella and Ginevra had worked out to smuggle Gabriella out of town in case she was being watched by Alejandro's men. So very early Saturday morning Troy dropped Gabriella and Maria off at the south car park of the mall. The two women headed straight for Starbucks and treated themselves to coffee and muffins for breakfast while Troy drove around until he was sure he wasn't being followed and then headed over to his parents place and unloaded their bags into his mother's car before putting his truck into the garage out of sight. While Troy helped Jack pack his car, Lucille drove to the mall. Parking in north car park she bought a newspaper and collected a prescription from the twenty-four hour pharmacy, then on her way out got a latte to go from Starbucks. She then headed back to the car without appearing to have noticed her daughter-in-law. Gabriella and Maria quickly got up and at a distance followed her to her car. They climbed in and Lucille quickly left the car park keeping an eye on the traffic behind her. She made several almost random turns through still quiet residential streets before Maria sighed in relief, "Okay I'm sure we're not being followed" she said having been watching out the rear window.

"Do you really think someone was watching the house?" Lucille asked.

"None of us saw anyone but given that Troy managed to visit Gabriella every night without me being aware of him coming or going, I truly can't confirm that nobody was watching." Maria said thoughtfully.

"Troy never saw anyone either and he was coming and going at some pretty random times" Gabriella added.

"Yes but Troy would have been concentrating on not being seen or heard by me inside the house not looking to see whether there was someone else watching it from outside." Maria argued. "And with the hours he was coming and going he would probably have been pretty tired and sleepy most of the time."

"Where are we meeting them?" Gabriella asked not liking being out of contact with her husband. Gabriella, Maria and Troy had all agreed not to take their cell phones with them to avoid being tempted to use them and risk that they could be used to locate them.

There's a small truck lay-by not far out of town, the gas station that was there closed down several years ago so it should be fairly quiet. The boys are going to meet us there."

Troy and Jack had also checked that they weren't being followed before leaving town and were now waiting at the lay-by, Jack calmly reading the paper while Troy paced around the truck stop. Lucille arrived and after quick hugs all round they quickly set off again taking an indirect route along the I-40 with Gabriella joining Troy and Jack, leaving the two mothers to lead the way.

Troy enjoyed sharing the drive with Gabriella and their family pointing out various attractions along the way where the Boltons had stopped in the past to break the tedium of travelling when he was younger. There was little time for sightseeing this trip as Maria was anxious to put as many miles as possible between themselves and Albuquerque before Alejandro realised that she and Gabriella were not on the flight he had booked for them to Cuba that day. They stopped quickly to rotate drivers, stretch their legs and for the boys to eat in Los Vegas (New Mexico not Nevada) and then for Lunch in Pueblo taking time to walk down the famous Riverwalk before heading to their stop for the night in Cheyenne.

Alejandro sat in his home office trying to concentrate on the work in front of him. His ex-wife and daughter would be landing at the local airport about now and would arrive within the hour. He hadn't seen either of them for many years though the private detective he had hired to track them down had sent him current photo's. He had been tempted to meet them at the airport though that would be out of character for him, but had reluctantly decided that it was best to send a car for them and delay his reunion with his wife and daughter until they were in a more private location.

He regretted signing the marriage contract between Eduardo and his daughter. Eduardo was a good man and a friend, and it seemed the right thing to do at the time, to secure her future. But Maria had been so angry with him over it. He knew that the contract was part of the reason for the divorce and the reason his ex-wife had never let him visit his daughter. He had missed them both acutely for years, and had cursed himself for being the cause of their separation.

Alejandro was worried about how Gabriella was coping emotionally with preparing to marry Eduardo. If she'd grown up with him, having always known that she was to be Eduardo's bride she would have accepted it and their marriage would have been a happy one. He didn't even know for sure that Maria had told Gabriella about the contract though receiving the receipts for the wedding dress had relieved his mind somewhat. He wondered how Gabriella had taken the news, he had never wanted to make her miserable. He was the only one of his brothers not to have an arranged marriage, and also the only one not still happily married. He really did believe that an arranged marriage with clearly set out guidelines like he had organised was in his daughter's best interests.

He was excited to see his daughter after all this time, but expected that she would be upset with him both about the wedding and the lack of contact he'd had with her over the years. That had been his wife's doing though, she had made it impossible to visit by moving every time the private investigator had located them. Alejandro prayed that Gabriella would one day forgive him for arranging the marriage to Eduardo. He thought it likely that once she was settled into her new life and could see how well Eduardo looked after her then she would come around. He only hoped it wouldn't take too long for her to forgive him and let him be a father again.

He answered the telephone expecting the driver to confirm the arrival of his ex-wife and daughter or to inform him that the plane had been delayed; instead the voice told him that he'd met the flight as requested but that nobody had approached him.

"You were in place before they landed and had the name card clearly visible?"

"Yes Sir I did. I tried to question the airline but they wouldn't give out any information."

"I paid for the flights so I can chase it up. Head back to the house and I'll call you when I have details."

Alejandro used the flight confirmation details to check on line. The tickets had been cancelled via the internet that morning and he was unable to find out whether they'd rebooked for another flight.

He swore to himself and quickly called the private investigation firm that he'd used to find them several times in the past. Unfortunately the firm was based out of New York but they promised to have a man on the ground in Albuquerque within the hour. Abandoning all attempts to concentrate on business while waiting Alejandro left the office, trying to decide what explanation he could give to satisfy his mother, and whether he should say anything to Eduardo.

He chose to wait for Eduardo's return the next day so he could break the news in person rather than over the telephone. By then he should have more information. It was possible that they'd merely delayed their trip a day or so.

The investigators proved true to their word and it was just over an hour later that he got the first report from Albuquerque.

"There is no sign of them at the house, though the car is in the garage. The house is locked up tight with the security system activated so it looks like they plan to be gone a while. Mrs Montez is not at work; in fact she's on holiday until the seventh of January when she takes up her new position. They didn't say where she was being transferred to but the house is on the market.

I rang the realtor and have an appointment to view the house Monday morning, which is the earliest I could get. The furniture is all still in place from what I can see through the windows, though either Maria is into more minimalistic decor these days or all of their personal effects have been packed away or removed. There's a patch of wall in the living room that suggests a picture frame was recently removed.

I'd say they've scarpered Sir. I have our office staff trying to track down their credit card receipts and locate which cell phone provider they use so we can attempt to track their location that way, as well as trace what alternative transport and accommodation they may have used. I've got an alert out with the airlines but bus and rail travel doesn't require identification. Unfortunately Mrs Maria Montez withdrew several thousand dollars in cash yesterday, I'm sure she'll have to leave a paper trail sooner or later but we've not been able to find anything yet.

I can put a man at the bus and rail terminals here in Albuquerque but chances are they've already left so it may be more effective to stake out the terminals in surrounding states for buses and trains arriving from New Mexico, it will be expensive though. How many man hours are you willing to invest in to finding them Sir?" The lead investigator asked not wanting to put more work into the search than the client was willing to pay for. It went without saying that the conversation was being recorded to ensure the investigation fee would be paid.

"They need to be found before the 27th of December, and the sooner the better. I'll authorise as much manpower and overtime as is required along with a ten thousand dollar bonus if they can be found and brought here by then, if they haven't been found by 8 am on the 28th call off the search." Alejandro replied impatiently.

"Just to clarify that Sir, you want every available asset of the firm tracking them down until 8 am Mountain Time on the 28th, but if they're not found by then we just let it drop." The investigator asked hiding his surprise at the unusual reply.

"Yes if you can't have the girl here in time for her wedding then there is little point finding her. I know she's been accepted into Stanford next fall, so she will be easily found come September."

"Yes Sir, the expenses for hiring the entire firm away from their existing work will be approximately twelve thousand dollars per day. More if we have to move them around the country." He hesitated before asking the man to pay up front. Alejandro had a fearsome reputation as someone you didn't want to cross.

"Fine I'll wire the money to you now. I trust $90,000 up front will be sufficient? Hire outside help as well if you believe it will significantly increase the likelihood of finding them in time."

"Thank you Sir" The investigator gave him the account details for the money transfer and then contacted head office to have all available staff put on the task of finding the Montez women.

Alejandro then put a call through to the private investigating service he used in Italy to check that they hadn't entered that country to stay with Maria's family.

Maria and the Boltons pulled in to Cheyenne at four that afternoon and checked in to the motel. They hadn't been able to get another room so Troy would be sleeping on the fold out couch in his parents' room while Gabriella and Maria shared the single room the Boltons had originally booked for Troy.

Knowing that there would be no opportunities for the young couple to be alone with all the family staying at Denise's. Jack and Lucille suggested that they split up and Jack and Lucille take Maria out for dinner while Troy and Gabriella ordered take away. Troy self-consciously accepted the offer. "Troy" Gabriella whispered at him scandalised "what will they think?"

"What they already think Gabi. That I want to spend some private time with my wife." He sighed as he saw her disapproving expression and tried to explain "Gabriella I have twenty-three cousins on mum's side of the family and they will all be at Aunt Denise's for Christmas, along with five sets of uncles and aunts. It's a total madhouse, the only place you will be alone is using the toilet, every conversation we have for the next four and a half days will probably be overheard by someone every kiss could be observed. They will all be curious about our marriage and I expect we will be closely watched the whole time we're there. I just want to spend some time with you where I don't have to watch what I'm saying or worry about PDAs and I'm not trying to concentrate on the road. We can go for a walk and look around a bit if you like."

"I think I'd like that, but aren't you too tired from driving most of the day?" Gabriella said smiling at him.

"No I'm a bit stiff stretching my legs would be good."

"What's there to do here do you know?"

"Well there's got to be about a dozen museums in town all of which Mum's dragged us to at one time or another, there's minigolf, as a kid I was fascinated by the world's largest steam engine in the Holiday park and the botanical gardens are beautiful it even has a lake" he said with a wink.

Gabriella blushed "I don't think I'm up to botanical gardens today Troy" she said.

"It's quite a way from here anyway but I think Holiday park is close enough. It's more for kids but it's a nice walk from here."

They wrote their parents a note in case they were gone longer than they planned, then asked the motel manager for directions to Holiday park before setting off. On the way they passed a pizza shop and debated whether it was warm enough to picnic in the park. In the end they decided to order their pizza for collection in an hour and pick it up on their way back.

The park turned out to be pretty, with its lakeside walks and a couple of children's play areas, the fenced off train failed to hold Troy's interest as it had done when he was younger but the surrounding old houses were attractive and the streets wide and leafy with old elms along the side of the road. They walked along holding hands enjoying the late afternoon sun until it started to get chilly.

After eating their pizza they lay on Troy's bed together Gabriella was watching rerun episodes of 'Friends' while Troy drifted off to sleep, and wrapped safely in his warm embrace Gabriella soon joined him.

Jack, Lucille and Maria arrived back at the motel soon after Troy and Gabriella had fallen asleep. Relieved that the young couple were still fully dressed and not having the heart to wake them they quietly got ready for bed themselves leaving the two newlyweds sleeping peacefully.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5 and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of High School Musical.

A/N: I have never been to America and any knowledge of the towns in my story has come from Wikipedia and the tourist sites on the internet. I mean no offence to anyone living in this area.

December 22 Sunday

Troy woke first the next morning as usual, conditioned from all the early mornings he had to wake up in time to sneak out of Gabriella's bed and back into his own before his Dad woke up. He looked across to where the clock would be at home before he realized where they were. Gabriella had fallen asleep with him and their parents had allowed her to stay the night. He smiled enjoying having Gabriella cuddled up with him then as he woke more fully started to think about how awkward it would be when Gabriella and his parents woke up. Realising that he wouldn't be able to wake his father to go out running without also waking his wife, he decided that the best thing to do would be to wake Gabriella quietly and then she could slip out and get breakfast before the others awoke. He shook her gently and put a finger to her lips.

Gabriella woke confused, she looked at Troy questioningly not recognising where they were but understanding Troy's wish for silence.

"Come on" he whispered climbing out of bed and collecting shoes for both of them and leading Gabriella out of the door.

They stopped in the hallway to put on their shoes, "We must have fallen asleep before the others got back" Troy explained. "We ended up sharing with Mum and Dad. I thought it'd be easier for everyone if we got up before they woke up. Do you have your key to go and shower?"

"No, Mum has it. I don't want to wake her up. What should we do?"

"Let's go and get something to eat."

They ate breakfast at the diner they came across before getting take out for their parents and returning to the motel.

"Gabi Thank God! We woke up and you were gone" Maria cried.

Gabriella looked down guiltily "I'm sorry Mum Troy and I went to get breakfast. We didn't think you'd be awake for a while yet."

"It's okay now but please don't disappear again especially not until the 28th" Maria hugged her daughter.

"I tried to call you son. Why's your phone turned off?" Jack asked.

"Sorry Dad I left my phone at home. I figured that anyone looking for Gabriella will ask around the kids at school. Everyone they ask would tell them about us. I didn't want them to be able to use my phone to trace us."

"Maybe you should turn your phones off too. If they search my house and find Troy's phone they'll be able to call 'Mom' or 'Dad' to locate us" Maria suggested anxiously.

"No I thought about that possibility, it should be safe. I left my phone, along with Gabriella's and yours Maria, in the bottom of a box of old school stuff in the cupboard in my room at home, not at Gabriella and Maria's place. I don't think they'll go so far as searching Mum and Dad's house even if they have managed to identify who Gabriella was dating."

It was a slightly shorter drive the second day, they stopped briefly in Casper and Sheridan but Maria and Gabriella were too anxious to enjoy exploring new places so they quickly ate and moved on. "We can always look around next year" Troy said smiling at his wife and mother-in-law.

"Heaven's does your poor sister host everyone for Christmas every year?" Maria asked shocked.

Lucille smiled "most years she does, she's the only one with room for everyone. Can you imagine us having 33 guests for up to a week at our house? I tried a couple of years ago but Denise says she'd rather have us there than deal with the overcrowding anywhere else. Much as I would like for Denise to have a year off the only real way to do it is not to all get together. We all try to help out while we're there, Denise is very well organised and I expect you will probably be put on the kitchen roster with me one night. The kids will be rostered on for cleanup duties.

Maria nodded in understanding. "That sounds fine. I'm just glad she found room for us" she said.

People seemed to swarm out from all directions as Maria and the Boltons arrived at Lucille's sister's. Maria and Gabriella quickly felt overwhelmed by the noise and affection of this enthusiastic crowd. Troy tried to introduce them to everyone but it was impossible to really sort out who was who amongst the hyperactive chaos. Lucille seeing the hesitant expression on Gabriella's face asked Denise to show them where they would be sleeping.

They followed Lucille and Denise to a small room with a single bed and a foldout cot in it. "Gabriella honey I'm sorry we don't have a room available for you and Troy to share. You're welcome to stay in the attic with the other girls if you like, though you'd have to sleep on the floor like they are" Denise said with a smile.

"No I think I'll stay here with Mum" Gabriella declined after having talked it over with Lucille earlier. She desperately wanted to make a good impression on Troy's family but also knew she would need the break from them too. After so many years of spending the holidays with just her mother and Aunt Ginevra this was a little daunting.

"Very sensible" Denise agreed laughing, "I don't know if they get any sleep at all up there."

Gabriella smile shyly "It's not that"

"We are a bit overwhelming all together, but they're all good kids and they'd like to get to know you. We are your family too now" Denise encouraged her new guest.

"I hope they like me. Troy's told me a lot about everyone. He really loves coming here for Christmas with you all. I don't want to ruin it for him" Gabriella said nervously.

Denise smiled, "It'll be fine. I'm glad to hear that Troy told you that he loves coming, sometimes I think he feels a bit out of place and overwhelmed sometimes as everyone else is used to having lots of family around and he's used to being on his own."

Gabriella thought about this as she unpacked then hurried out to find Troy. She still felt shy around all these strangers. She found him sitting out on the porch with some of the cousins around their age and hesitated before joining him.

Troy's face lit up when he saw her standing there and he gestured for her to join him. He pulled her onto his lap as soon as she came close enough and started introducing her.

"Guys this is my wife Gabriella. Gabi I know everybody introduced themselves when we arrived but I doubt you could hear them all let alone remember all their names even with your fantastic memory" he teased her.

"This is Kyle, Sam, Will and Laura" he said pointing to each in turn, "They're all seniors too, and we've been talking about college applications" Troy introduced her to his closest in age cousins and filled her in on what they'd been talking about.

"It's good to meet you all" Gabriella said nervously.

"It's great to meet the person who taught Troy to think about anything other than Basketball" Sam said smiling at her.

Gabriella's eyebrows rose at that. "He was never like that with me" she said surprised. "In fact I didn't even know he played until my friend Taylor told me. Even then we didn't talk about Basketball so much as the rest of what goes with it."

"What do you mean what goes with it?" Laura asked.

"I mean the pressure of being the coach's son, the popularity, being looked at and held up as an example all the time, the expectations that because you're the captain of the basketball team that that's all you can be" Gabriella tried to explain the pressure Troy was under at school but knew that unless they were in the same position they wouldn't really understand.

"You mean Troy's popular?" Will teased sounding shocked.

"You have no idea!" Troy laughed.

Will and Kyle laughed "Yeah right, you play a nerd sport. And sing in musicals admit it you're a total wannabe" Kyle jeered.

"Basketball's not a nerd sport" said Troy with less heat then Gabriella expected.

"How on earth can they think that?" Gabriella asked Troy amused.

Troy shrugged "They both go to schools where football is worshipped above all else and no other sports are considered cool. Haven't you been to a school like that?" He asked her surprised that she hadn't.

"I was a nerd at all my other schools Troy" she reminded him. "I used to avoid the jocks as much as possible I never paid attention to what sports they played."

Troy chuckled and gave her as friendly squeeze.

"You're too pretty to be a nerd even if you hang around with Troy" Kyle flirted. Gabriella knew from Troy's warnings that he was probably only flirting to wind Troy up. Unluckily for Kyle, Troy was far too confident in their relationship for his cousins flirting to worry him, and Gabriella ignored his flirting completely.

Gabriella nodded in thought "Okay I see how you've misunderstood. East high is not a football school, the football team haven't won a game in more than a year and I couldn't tell you who their captain or most of their players are. Basketball is East High's number one sport."

"You mean Basketball really is super popular? I thought it was just Uncle Jack" Sam asked laughing.

"Coach does take things to extremes" Gabriella agreed also laughing "but it's not just him, the whole school seems to revolve around the basketball team."

"Except Darbus" Troy interjected.

"And she loves you too anyway" Gabriella teased him.  
"Darbus?"

"Ms D is our homeroom and drama teacher, she's had this feud going with dad for years," Troy explained smiling at the memory. "She's slightly insane."

"And she loves Troy? Why?"

"Because he stood up to his dad and was part of the musicale last year?" Gabriella explained. "Ms Darbus big argument with Coach is that theatre is just as important as Basketball and should be given equal funding and encouragement by the school."

"Now I know you're lying about Troy not being a geek. He sings in musicals, that'd make him a nerd no matter how popular he used to be" Will stated.

"You've got it the wrong way around. Troy's not just popular he's the king of the school. The guy every boy wants to be and every girl wants to date. Singing doesn't make Troy a nerd. At East High, having Troy Bolton singing in musicals makes singing in musicals cool." Gabriella tried to tell them.

The others laughed at this idea not believing her but they were called in for dinner before anyone could say anything more.

Dinner was hectic with so many people to feed. Denise had set up a smorgasbord on the kitchen table and bench and everybody helped themselves then spread out on the porch and lawn to eat. Troy chose to sit with his parents and Maria knowing that Gabriella was still feeling overwhelmed by his huge family and would appreciate the familiar company.

He introduced her to his Uncle Jeffrey, Aunt Belinda and their four year old twins Matthew and Elizabeth, who were also sitting nearby. Troy sat on the floor leaning on one of the concrete posts that supported the porch roof, with his arm casually around Gabriella who was leaning on his left shoulder. The two newlyweds ate quietly taking little notice of the surrounding conversation.

Jeffrey noticed how comfortable they seemed with each other. Usually introducing a girlfriend or boyfriend to the family was a nerve wracking and embarrassing task for both of the new couple. None of them had seemed anywhere near as comfortable as Troy and Gabriella were. He decided to see if he could have a little fun with Troy.

"How long have you two been together, Troy? I don't recall you mentioning her last year" he asked.

"We met on New Year's Eve" said Troy, glancing at Gabriella with a smile "we've been dating almost eleven months and we've been married for sixteen days now."

Jeffery raised his eyes in astonishment, but his wife interrupted before he expressed his shock at Troy's answer.

"So how did you meet?" asked Belinda. "I thought you were going away skiing for New Year's after leaving us last year."

Troy grinned. "Yeah we did. I met Gabriella at the ski resort at a party that both our mums forced us to go to." He turned to his mother and said "I don't think I've ever thanked you for that Mama. Thank you" he said jumping up and giving her a quick hug and kiss causing the rest of them to laugh.

"I didn't think we'd ever see each other again, but luckily her mom got transferred to Albuquerque, and she was in my first class when I got back to school" Troy explained happily.

"I've never had such a wonderful surprise" Gabriella added "I normally hate starting at a new school but knowing Troy made it easy."

"Shouldn't you be thanking me too?" Maria asked her daughter.

Troy squeezed Gabriella's hand to prevent her from getting up and winked at her before jumping up and kissing Maria on the cheek, "Thanks Maria" he said sincerely.

"You're welcome Troy" Maria said smiling.

"You didn't tell them about the karaoke" Jack interrupted grinning mischievously.

"Karaoke?" Belinda and Jeffery echoed.

"Yeah at the party we were forced to get up and sing together, that's how we met." Troy answered giving Jack a dirty look.

"Troy can sing?" Jeffrey said astonished.

"He sings very well" Gabriella defended her husband "and he loves it too" she added smirking at Troy.

Troy stuck his tongue out at her. "I love singing with you Gabriella not with anyone else. Singing with Sharpay was a nightmare." Troy shuddered at the memory of Sharpay taking over the song Kelsi had written for them during the summer. Gabriella laughed at him and kissed his cheek.

"You'll have to sing for us later" Jeffrey said teasingly.

"No Way!" Troy laughed.

"They've never heard you sing Troy" his mother tried to encourage him.

"Well if they want to hear me sing then they'll have to come to the next show" said Troy stubbornly "I'm not asking Gabriella to sand up and sing in front of everybody without an accompaniment."

"What sort of show?" Belinda asked.

"The musicals the Drama Department at school put on" Troy explained.

"We might just have to do that" Jeffrey laughed "it would be worth the trip to Albuquerque to see the basketball boy sing and dance."

Recognising that this jab was probably aimed more at Jack for his obsession with Troy's basketball skills than at himself Troy laughed uneasily and having finished their meals Troy and Gabriella made their escape.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, and Siabhan for your support


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"I'm sorry about that, he's quite a joker, all that stuff about the singing was really to stir dad up. I don't think he would really come to a show but we can expect that he'll tell the others. So I guess we'll be in for some heckling." Troy apologised as they walked out towards the edge of the yard where the house lights didn't reach.

"It shouldn't make much difference if your family does come. They'd be really proud of you if they did. Your shows are always sold out anyway so plenty of people you know will be there. Don't worry Troy! My family is a lot worse remember. I haven't seen any of Papa's family at all in the last ten years, they didn't forgive mum for leaving him. And they'll probably never forgive me for refusing to marry Eduardo" Gabriella replied "I can handle a little teasing."

"What about your mum's family? The only one I've met is your Aunt Ginevra and she seems really nice" Troy asked.

"She is" Gabriella confirmed. "Though I'm a little surprised that you think so after the fight we had with her last week."

"She was just concerned for you and she didn't know me. Ginevra really cares about you Gabriella. How could I possibly dislike her for that?" Troy said firmly.

"I'm glad you're prepared to give her another chance. She's mum's only sister and she and mum have always been close. No matter where we have been living we see her at least twice a year, once at Christmas and again in July for her and mum's birthday."

"They're twins?" Troy asked surprised, Ginevra looked a lot younger than Maria.

"Oh no!" Gabriella laughed, "Aunt Ginevra's eleven years younger than Mum, they use to have a brother in between but he died as a teenager, but they both have their birthday at the end of July so we spend the weekend in between their birthdays together to celebrate. She moves around nearly as much as we did so every time is in someplace new"

"What about your grandparents?" Troy asked hesitantly he had never heard Gabriella talk about them and wasn't sure why not.

"Mum's parents Grandmama and Nonno?" Gabriella shrugged "They're very traditional Italian couple and think family is everything. They don't speak much English which is why I worked so hard to learn Italian. They moved back to Italy about six years ago to help look after Nonno's mother. They believe that a woman's place is in the home, and that not being married is a sign of failure. They don't really approve of mum or Aunt Ginevra working and moving around so much. They were very upset when Mom left Papa. One of the reasons we don't visit them very often is because they are always nagging Mom to get back in contact with Papa and try to sort things out. When we moved to Albuquerque Mom made me promise not to tell them where we are living. Looking back I think maybe she suspected that they were telling Papa where we lived. So I haven't had much contact with them in the past year." Gabriella shrugged "But Alejandro still found us anyway so maybe they weren't telling him."

"Hopefully the fact that Alejandro tried to force you into marrying someone you didn't know at sixteen will stop them from taking his side." Troy commented. He felt sad for Maria who in leaving her husband had also seemed to lose the love and support of her family when she needed it most.

"Mmmm maybe, but I think they will still be upset with me for eloping, not for getting married so much as for going against my parents wishes, obedience is very important to them. That's why they are so upset with mum. Not only did she leave Papa, she refused to go back and try to talk to him when Nonno ordered her to." Gabriella explained.

Tory didn't know what to say in response to this so he just squeezed Gabriella a little tighter and kissed her on the forehead gently.

"Sometimes lately I wonder if the marriage contract is the only reason that Mom left Papa. And if it is then now that we're married and the threat of the contract has been avoided then maybe they will try to get back together" Gabriella said quietly.

"How would you feel about that?" Troy asked looking at Gabriella anxiously.

"I don't know." Gabriella sighed. "When we first left that's all that I wanted. To go back to Papa and be a proper family again, I was angry at Mom for taking me away from Papa. Then as time went on I got angry with him because he never called or came to visit me. Now I know that he probably couldn't come and visit because he didn't know where we were a lot of the time and that he was trying to find us. It wasn't his fault but I still feel angry with him over not being there when I wanted him. Now I barely remember him. Even if I wanted to forgive him when I think of my father I can only think about the memories of all those father/daughter activities in school that I missed out on because I didn't have a father around, the times I was scared or upset and he wasn't there."

"Are you still angry with Maria about leaving your Father?" Troy asked.

"No. I was for a long time but I got over it as time passed and I started to forget him. Now that I know why she did it I know she was doing what she thought was best for me, and I agree she was right. Even if I had still been mad at her I would have forgiven her when I found out about the contract, but I hadn't even thought about Papa in years by the time she told me. I don't know Alejandro and he doesn't know me. And I can't help but feel that he doesn't care about me at all otherwise he wouldn't have tried to force me to marry Eduardo."

"I don't want to take his side but the fact that he doesn't know you is not entirely his fault. He's never been given the opportunity to get to know you. And while anyone who did know us would know what a horrible idea it would be to force you to marry somebody else, he didn't. If that's the way his family has always done things then he may have truly thought he was doing what was best for you." Troy didn't know why he was defending her father but he thought that someday Gabriella might regret it if Alejandro tried to reconcile with her and she refused to give him a chance.

"But Mom and Papa's marriage wasn't arranged" Gabriella argued.

"Yeah, and look how their marriage turned out from his point of view, his wife and daughter disappeared off the face of the earth overnight. If his parents and Aunts and Uncles all had successful arranged marriages he may have come to regret not agreeing to one himself" Troy said thoughtfully.

"Do you really think that?" Gabriella asked seriously.

Troy shrugged "I don't know. I don't know him. I just don't want you to hate him without knowing all the facts. He is still your father and if he wants an opportunity to get to know you I think you should keep an open mind so long as he's prepared to listen to what's important to you and not keep trying to separate us. If you're right about why he and Maria separated then there's the possibility they will end up getting back together. If that happens then not giving him a chance will harm your relationship with your mom and I'd hate to see that happen." Troy explained.

Gabriella sighed "I don't know if I can give him another chance Troy." she said.

Troy hugged her "You don't have to decide immediately," he comforted "let him make the first move and see what he says. But maybe you should try to remember that just like he can't see your point of view because he doesn't know you, you don't know him either"

After a few moments hugging Troy said hesitantly "We better head back. We'll never hear the end of it if they send the others out looking for us."

Gabriella laughed and they turned back towards the house and caught up with the rest of the cousins now all in one big group calling out for Troy to join them. Gabriella sat quietly next to Troy as he caught up with the various family members. He'd tried to draw Gabriella into the conversation but she seemed lost in her thoughts. Troy kept his arm loosely around Gabriella as he sat and chatted with the others, sending her worried glances every now and again.

Eventually the parents came by to start sending the younger children off to bed. Troy took the opportunity to say his goodnight's to everyone claiming tiredness from the journey. He pulled Gabriella up with him and suggested a small stroll before bed, receiving some catcalls from the boys.

They walked in silence until they were well out of sight and earshot of Troy's family before Troy took her in his arms and asked. "Gabi, Baby please tell me what's wrong. Is it something my family said? Or something I did?"

Without warning Gabriella collapsed against him in tears.

Troy though horrified at her reaction had after the last few months plenty of experience dealing with a crying Gabriella. He held her tightly waiting for the sobbing to ease off a bit before she could tell him what was upsetting her.

"What if she does still love him? It is possible you know, she's never even been on a date with anyone else in nearly ten years. What if they've been separated from each other all this time because of me?" She cried. She felt incredibly guilty that her mother had had to choose between her own happiness and protecting her daughter and a little afraid that now she was married her mum would choose to return to her father and she could lose contact with her as well.

Troy was simultaneously secretly relieved that she wasn't upset by anything he or his family had done and dismayed that this wasn't a problem he could solve.

"We don't know that that is why she left Alejandro. And even if it was because of the contract it wouldn't be your fault, you didn't choose to separate them. Your father chose to arrange a marriage for you and Maria chose to leave when she did. You didn't ask her to do anything she decided to leave all on her own." Troy replied trying to reduce the guilt Gabriella was showing

"Remember that we know Maria did sign the contract originally so either she was being forced to do so against her will which would be reason enough on its own for her leaving Alejandro, or she agreed with the contract at the time and something changed her mind about it later. We don't know how long after the contract was signed that she left. And we don't know how long it took to successfully leave and go into hiding, she may have been planning to leave before she signed the contract and then she signed it to avoid suspicion thinking that it wouldn't matter anyway because you wouldn't be found. I think you need to talk to Maria about this Baby, it's tearing you up inside and there may be heaps of other reasons she left him when she did. It might not have anything to do with you."

"You really think so?" Gabriella asked insecurely.

"I think she must have had another reason for leaving. If she truly loved him and she only left to protect you from having to go through with the marriage then she wouldn't have left when she did. She could have stayed until you were thirteen or fourteen. It would have been easier to hide for a year or two than as long as she did, she could have used an assumed name and dropped right out of sight without harming her career, lots of people take a year's Sabbatical or time off to look after a sick relative or something" Troy explained his thoughts.

Gabriella thought about this for a few minutes "No I don't think she could have stayed like that. If she loved him like I love you then knowing she would leave without warning one day would have made her feel like she was lying to him every day. It would have torn her apart. And she'd probably be afraid that she wouldn't have the strength to be able to make herself leave when the time came."

"Hmm." Troy agreed. "We'll never know unless Maria tells us more about why she left. Try not to worry about it for now Gabi, I doubt you'll have time for a serious talk like that here."

Gabriella had to agree. She had liked Troy's family but all together they were chaos personified it was unlikely she and Maria could have the uninterrupted time they would need for this discussion while they were here.

A/N: thankyou to Wildcats2016, Kiara, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13 and jesselyricsR5 for your support


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Looking around and seeing most of the lights in the house were now turned off and not seeing anyone in the yard Troy bent his head and kissed Gabriella. "It's late everyone seems to be in bed, we better go in" he said.

"I have a better idea, you said we wouldn't get much privacy here but we seem to be alone now" Gabriella replied looking around before pulling Troy down onto the grass and straddling his hips kissing him passionately.

Troy moaned into the kiss as his arousal tightened his jeans "Gabi no we can't someone could come looking for us."

In spite of his words he deepened the kiss exploring Gabriella's mouth with his tongue and brought his hands up to play with her breasts. They continued for several minutes before Troy gently pushed Gabriella off his lap and lay back panting desperately fighting for control.

Gabriella sat beside him silently knowing that any movement on her part could cause Troy to lose control which given the fact that he was sharing a barn with all his boy cousins and wouldn't be able to clean up before they noticed would be hugely embarrassing for him.

Eventually Troy opened his eyes "I'm sorry" he apologised.

"Don't be sorry Troy it's my fault, I enjoy knowing I can do that to you and I didn't think about the consequences. I'm sorry, it wasn't fair to do that to you. Especially when I know you won't have any privacy tonight."

They returned to the house Troy seeing Gabriella to the door before kissing her lightly and heading in to the barn for the night.

Daniel, Luke, Will and Kyle smirked at Troy as he entered the barn and started undressing for bed, it was late and the younger kids were all in their sleeping bags asleep.

"I'm proud of you little cuz, she's a real hottie" Will's 20 year old brother Daniel commented.

"Yeah Cuz how'd you score a babe like that?" Luke asked.

"Don't talk about her like that" Troy said trying to stay calm. He was used to his older cousins ragging on him and knew that losing his temper could only make things worse.

"What I want to know is has she made a man out of you yet?" said Kyle

"Guys! Gabriella is my wife. Diss me all you like but she doesn't deserve to be talked about like that."

"Lay off guys Gabriella seems nice" Will tried to support Troy.

"Yeah! Way too good for Troy" Kyle agreed with Will.

"Not much of a wife if you're still bunking out here with us." Luke taunted Troy.

Troy groaned "Like we have a choice with all the family here, there's no other room available" he attempted to explain.

"Maybe she needs to meet a real man" Luke goaded looking for a fight.

"Leave her alone!" Troy said wearily.

"Or what you'll try to beat me up and Jack will stop you again."Luke laughed at the memory from last year's Christmas get together.

Troy laughed too at that, "Dad won't stop me from hurting you if you hit on his daughter in law, hell he'd probably help if you upset Gabriella enough" he informed his cousin.

"Yeah right" Luke jeered.

"Can't say I didn't warn you. Dad's very protective of his new daughter." Troy said getting into his sleeping bag and turning his back on them, pretending to sleep.

Alejandro contacted the investigators for an update just before noon. "There's been no sighting of them anywhere in Albuquerque. They are not registered in any motel room of four star quality or better anywhere in the state of New Mexico. Their mobile phones have not been switched on at any time in the past 20 hours since we set up the surveillance, and they have not used a credit or bank card for any of their usual accounts we know about anywhere in the United States.

They have definitely not left the country (legally anyway) and not been booked on any airplane, train or bus leaving Albuquerque in the last two days, and there's no record of either of them renting a vehicle of any description.

We are being hindered by the holiday season, Maria's workplace and the administration at Gabriella's school are both closed until at least the 3rd of January, making it difficult to identify potential sources of information an many of those we have managed to identify are away visiting friends or family. We have managed to definitely confirm that they were in Albuquerque on December 20th, and that all of Maria Montez's work colleagues that I've managed to contact believed that they would be flying to Cuba on the 21st. The school is closed for the Christmas break but we have confirmed Gabriella's attendance in classes on the afternoon of the 20th.

We have spread our search of hotel rooms across the adjoining states but it's possible they are staying in a lower class motel where they wouldn't have been required to provide ID so long as they paid cash in advance. It would take an extremely large number of man hours to check those as they'd have to be visited in person to see if any of the staff identified their photographs.

We are also trying to identify and locate Gabriella's close friends. She may have confided in one of them though if I were Maria Montez I wouldn't have given the daughter any details. Teenage girls can't be trusted not to tell their best friend everything, and most of the time those same friends shouldn't be trusted to keep their secrets."

"In other words you have no idea where they are, or how long it will take to find them."

"No Sir. We've confirmed Maria Montez withdrew four thousand dollars from her accounts on Friday. The girl Gabriella withdrew less than a hundred in the last week. So they have less than five thousand dollars before they need to access their accounts again. How long that will last depends on whether they are getting assistance from somebody. It is also possible that they have another account somewhere we don't know about yet, or that they had a stash of emergency cash hidden away somewhere for a situation like this. Unfortunately we have no way of telling how long they have been planning this disappearance.

If they are paying for all transport, meals and accommodation they should run out of money by the end of the week, sooner if they had to payout extra to keep their names off booking sheets and hotel registers. But I can't guarantee it will be before the 27th."

Alejandro sighed. Keep at it. They've stayed in Albuquerque longer than anywhere else it might pay to find out why. Is there a lover or boyfriend on the scene?"

"I can't tell you why they've stayed in one place so long this time. Maria Montez' job isn't anything special and there's no sign of any romantic interests with the mother, Maria Montez, she's not particularly close to any of the colleagues we've spoken to, and we haven't managed to locate any close friends in Albuquerque if she has any. We are in the process of locating the known close associates of Maria that we identified from previous investigations. So far none are known to be in New Mexico or in current contact with the target. The girl Gabriella on the other hand does appear to have a steady boyfriend; he's the captain of the basketball team, though I don't know how serious it is. None of the students we've managed to speak with so far seemed very close to the girl." As he hadn't managed to confirm it the investigator decided not to include in his report the rumour that the girl and the basketball captain had gotten married recently.

Admitting to himself that he could procrastinate no longer, Alejandro rang to confirm that Eduardo was at his home in Cuba and set up an immediate appointment to visit. He called to have his car brought around to the front door and quickly drove to Eduardo's new home hoping that he could see Eduardo without having to deal with the rest of the family first.

Eduardo met him in his home office and greeted him cordially. Not giving Alejandro time to speak Eduardo began outlining his plan to send Gabriella to Stanford University, and the possible benefits of delaying their marriage until she had graduated.

Alejandro frowned "Normally I wouldn't even consider it at this late date. The invitations were sent weeks ago Eduardo and it will cause us both major embarrassment to cancel the wedding now." He sighed "However under the circumstances I fear we have no choice."

"No choice but to postpone the wedding? What has happened? Has Gabriella been injured?"

"No the dam girl has disappeared. Maria and Gabriella did not arrive on the flight I booked them. There is no sign of them in Albuquerque where they have been living though most of their possessions are still there. I have no idea where they are." Alejandro retorted angrily.

"What have you done to find them?" Eduardo didn't quite know how he felt. It was one thing to attempt to negotiate postponing the wedding, but to have the choice taken out of his hands felt entirely different.

"I don't know if they decided to have a small holiday before coming here or if they're not coming at all. I have a team of investigators in the USA searching for them, but the more information I get from them the more it looks like Maria and Gabriella are deliberately trying to avoid being found. Neither has had their phones turned on since the flight they were supposed to be on has landed, Maria's car is at her house and Maria took out a large sum in cash a few days ago and hasn't used any credit cards since then."

"So you think we should postpone the wedding or continue to go ahead with the plans?"

"It may be that our best course of action is to cancel the wedding as soon as possible and try to contact as many of the guests as possible before they travel down here, on the other hand Gabriella definitely did purchase a wedding dress and accessories so she may still be planning to be here in time. It's your call. You have the most to lose if we don't cancel the wedding and my daughter is not found in time."

"I think I would prefer it if we agreed to cancel straight away, as you say it may be difficult to get in contact with everyone, but it would be much less damaging if we can prevent most of the guests from arriving. I know I would hate to be left standing at the altar in front of everyone." Eduardo said shuddering internally at the thought of that humiliating scenario.

"Yes I see your point. Particularly if you were considering wanting to postpone the marriage any way." Alejandro agreed.

"What about the contract?" Eduardo asked. He was willing to void the whole thing but wanted to be sure that he could not be sued for breach of contract for agreeing to the cancellation.

"Well as it seems, both parties are unwilling to fulfil the contract as written. If you are agreeable, I will have the lawyers draw up a legal document stating the intention of all concerned to withdraw from the marriage arrangement without penalty."

Eduardo thought for a moment, either he withdrew honourably by signing this agreement or he faced the possibility of standing at the church in front of all of his family and close friends not to mention possibly members of the press and being jilted at the altar. He was a wealthy man. The forfeiture compensation Alejandro would have to pay in that situation really wasn't enough to justify the embarrassment and probable damage to his reputation. As a bonus this was an honourable way out of the marriage agreement he no longer needed or wanted, if he signed the withdrawal now then he wouldn't be forced to marry a teenager even if Gabriella did turn up before the 28th. He could return to his comfortable life and girlfriend.

"Yes I agree. Have your lawyers draw it up as quickly as possible. For expediency's sake as long as we both give our word as gentlemen that we will each sign the agreement, we can begin informing guests of the cancellation immediately Hopefully we can contact everyone in time." Eduardo offered.

"You have my word" Alejandro replied.

Eduardo gave Alejandro a list of the guests he would like to contact personally about the cancellation and Alejandro headed back to his offices where he assigned his personal assistants the task of urgently contacting the balance of the guests to inform them of the cancellation, before heading home to break the news to his family.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5 and iminlove13 for your support.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

December 23 Monday

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella tossed and turned on the camp bed. She'd slept in the car for several hours the day before and now she couldn't sleep. She'd grown accustomed to snuggling into Troy's warmth and the bed felt far too cold without him. She gave up sleeping about six as the room started to lighten and dressed quickly in her warmest clothes before she tiptoed out to watch the sun rise.

Troy found her sitting on the porch swing a few minutes later as he left the barn to go for a run.

"Gabi, Are you alright? What are you doing up?" He asked worriedly, kissing and hugging her.

"I was too cold to sleep" she admitted "so I got up to watch the sunrise.

"Do you want to come running with me? Or we could go for a walk, it's really too cold to be sitting out here." Troy asked worried when he saw her shivering slightly.

"Me go running?"she laughed "I don't think so Troy. What I'd really like is to snuggle up together somewhere warm, but there are people everywhere."

"How about you get your quilt and I'll get mine and we can snuggle up on the swing together? We should be warm enough under both quilts" Troy suggested.

"Are you sure, I don't want to get you in trouble for not running?" Gabriella asked conscientiously, she really liked the idea.

"I can always run later when the others are up, this will probably be our only chance to be alone all day" he replied turning to get his sleeping bag and swag. In truth Troy hadn't slept well on his own either and was quite content to curl up with her and sleep some more.

Troy quickly fetched his sleeping bag and waterproof swag from the barn and spread it out over the top of Gabriella's quilt before crawling under the covers with his wife.

They sat on the swing with their arms wrapped around each other and kissed languidly for a short time aware of not wanting to start anything they lacked the privacy to continue, but soon stopped and dozed off quite warm underneath the two sets of bedding and the waterproof cover Troy had thrown over the top of them.

Jack came outside just after eight o'clock and headed to the barn hoping to persuade Troy to come running with him. He was a little surprised that his son hadn't been in to invite him to run together already but guessed that the boys had been up late catching up and Troy had slept later than usual. He passed the swing without noticing its occupants and entered the barn quietly. It took several minutes for Jacks eyes to adjust to the dim light of the barn enough for him to identify the sleeping boys and realize that Troy wasn't among them. Thinking that Troy had gone running without him, he turned to return to the house no longer feeling like a morning run.

Will, having been woken by Jack's entrance, turned to the space next to him where Troy had slept the night before. Finding Troy missing, he quickly got up and followed Jack out of the barn. He found his Uncle Jack standing at the bottom of the steps looking bemusedly at Troy and Gabriella sleeping on the porch swing together.

Will winced expecting Uncle Jack to explode at his son. Not sure whether he should interrupt or make himself scarce he stopped in the barn doorway almost out of sight. He was surprised to hear Jack laugh and softly call Troy's name.

"Troy wake up." Jack said Laying his hand on Troy's quilt covered shoulder.

Troy stirred and looked up with a smile "Dad?" he asked sleepily.

"You need to wake up before everyone else comes out. I came to ask if you wanted to run this morning." Jack said quietly.

Troy woke up fully and became aware of his location. He turned to Gabriella "Baby it's time to wake up" he said to her gently running his fingers through her hair.

She stirred and turned her face up to kiss Troy.

"Good morning Gabriella" Jack interrupted their kiss letting her know they were no longer alone.

"Oh!" Gabriella blushed "Sorry Coach Bolton."

"It's fine Mrs Bolton, but you might want to get up before someone else finds you out here. Did you sleep out here all night?" he asked amused.

"No I was on my way in to ask if you wanted to come running with me when Gabriella came out to see the sun rise." Troy answered.

Jack smiled pleased that his son had wanted to run with him. "I see you didn't get very much running in" he teased. "I was about to run now do you still want to go?"

Troy blushed, "Seeing as we won't get much time to ourselves in the next few days we decided to make the most of it." He thought for a moment then nodded "Just give me a minute then I'll come running. He headed inside to the bathroom leaving Jack with Gabriella. "Is everything okay Gabriella?" Jack asked the girl he thought of as his daughter.

"Yeah. I just couldn't get warm enough to sleep. I've got used to Troy being so..." she trailed off embarrassed.

Jack laughed "He always was like sleeping with a hot water bottle even as a baby" he agreed helping her fold up the bedding.

"Can you take these back into the barn?" She asked him "I don't think I should go in there."

"Sure" he agreed taking Troy's sleeping bag and waterproof ground sheet.

He returned from the barn just as Troy returned and kissed his wife before the two Bolton men ran off down the road.

Will came over to Gabriella. "Is Troy in serious trouble?" he asked concerned.

Gabriella looked surprised "He's not in trouble at all. Why would you think he was?"

"Uncle Jack came looking for him and found him sleeping with you. My dad would ground me for at least a month if they caught me sleeping with my girlfriend. Let alone where all the family could see us" Will said, as if it should have been obvious.

"I'm not Troy's girlfriend I'm his wife, we were fully dressed and we weren't doing anything wrong." She replied amusedly.

"Then why did Uncle Jack come looking for Troy in the first place?" will asked.

"He wanted to see if Troy wanted to run with him this morning. I know Troy misses running with his Dad during the week when we're at home, I expect Jack misses it too." Gabriella explained.

"Why doesn't Troy run with his Dad anymore?" asked Will surprised that Uncle Jack had let Troy get away with not running every morning.

"It just isn't practical, Jack and Lucille live about three miles from us, the only time Troy runs further than that is on the weekends. He sometimes meets up with Jack then."

"Troy doesn't live at home?" Will asked astonished.

"Not at the moment, we will move in with the Boltons next semester but we've been staying with Mum until she moves to Mexico"

"Troy lives with you? And Uncle Jack and Aunt Lucille are okay with that?"

"Yes. Troy and I are married of course our parents are okay with us living together." Gabriella answered beginning to get frustrated that Troy's cousins either were either ignoring or refusing to believe in their marriage.

"I knew that you guys got married to stop you from having to marry someone else. But I thought it was... I mean I didn't think..." he trailed off not knowing how to tell his cousin's wife that he hadn't really believed in their marriage.

"You thought it wasn't a real marriage?" Gabriella helped him finish.  
"Yeah I thought it was just to get you out of the problem with your dad arranging a marriage. Just pretend like you know. Not that Troy'd move in with you and all."

Gabriella frowned "Is that what everyone else thinks too?" she asked him.

"Yeah! I think so especially cause Troy's still sleeping out in the barn with us" Will admitted.

"And where else would we sleep?" Gabriella asked exasperated. "The house is packed to the rafters, I can hardly ask my mum to sleep up in the attic with the girls so Troy and I could have the room to ourselves. And as nice as it was this morning we can't spend all night sleeping on the porch. It's too cold." She laughed at the thought of that.

Will looked sheepish "I hadn't thought about that" he admitted a little guiltily.

"Did you guys give Troy a hard time last night?" Gabriella asked.

When Will sighed and didn't answer, Gabriella turned and stared at him demandingly "Yeah" he admitted finally "mostly Luke. He's pissed at Troy anyway because Troy's probably going to get a scholarship and he didn't."

"Did he expect to?"

"Well it was always a bit of a long shot but yeah I think he expected it even if no-one else did. The way Uncle Jack's been talking Troy's a sure thing for a scholarship or is that wishful thinking?" Will queried knowing his uncle wasn't exactly impartial when it came to anything to do with Troy and Basketball.

"Troy's had several decent offers already." Gabriella replied proudly.

"I thought he said he was going to Berkeley, hasn't he already accepted?" Will asked surprised that his cousin seemed so sure that was where he would be going to college when he hadn't accepted their offer.

"He hasn't accepted their offer yet though he will, we are waiting to see what accommodation they are prepared to offer." Gabriella explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Troy's been offered a full ride to Berkeley including accommodation, and I have a similar offer from Stanford. They are about 33 miles apart and we are currently negotiating with both colleges to have them pay for married housing at California State which is about half way in between instead of providing us each with separate rooms on campus. So far Berkeley's agreed but we haven't heard back from Stanford."

"Wow, a full ride from one of the best sports colleges in the country. I'm impressed."

"Not just one Troy got similar offers from U of A, Boston U and Duke and a couple of others too I think."

Will whistled "No wonder Luke's pissed." He got up "are you coming to breakfast?" he asked walking towards the kitchen.

"No I'll wait and eat with Troy when he gets back." Gabriella said taking her blankets back inside.

Denise cornered Troy and Gabriella at breakfast "Good Morning Troy, Gabriella, mind if I sit with you" she asked.

"Hi Aunt Denise, of course not take a seat" said Troy knowing he was probably in for a lecture and that putting it off would only make it worse and more embarrassingly public. Most of the others had finished breakfast and moved out to enjoy the abnormally mild sunny morning so only a few of the adults were within earshot. At least his cousins were not going to be party to his embarrassment.

"I've been speaking with your mother quite a lot lately" Denise said bluntly. "She told me that she wants us all to accept your marriage to Gabriella, but she was very hurt by your marriage Troy."

Troy sighed "I know Aunt Denny, I never meant to hurt her but I don't know how to make it better. Honestly, I can't change what happened and I wouldn't even if I could. Even though I knew how much Mum would be hurt not being there, we still couldn't have risked inviting her to the wedding." He reluctantly added "We could offer to have a second wedding but it still wouldn't be the same."

"She understands that Troy. The best thing you can do now is just to spend some time with her, show her that she's still important to you, ask her advice, and involve her in your life. She is afraid she's going to lose you."

"But..." Troy protested.

"I know Troy, and so does Lucille, but fears aren't rational. She'll get over it in time." Denise reassured him.

"I'm really sorry for causing all this trouble in your family" Gabriella said to Troy's aunt in a small voice.

"Lucille doesn't blame you dear. She was most insistent that we make you welcome." Denise said reassuringly.

"But isn't that also because she's afraid that Troy won't come to Christmas in future if I don't enjoy it?" asked Gabriella. "I wouldn't do that, I know how much Troy loves coming and spending time with his family"

Denise considered this "No, I think it's more than that. She truly wants your marriage to work and she knows that knowing that the family supports you both will make it easier. Though of course we do want you to want to come for Christmas again whenever you can" she added with a smile.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, Kiara, Siobhan and iminlove13 for your suppport.


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

The investigator reported in after visiting Maria Montez's house. He still had no leads on his target's current location.

"Most of Maria Montez's personal items and clothing is packed into boxes, some have been labelled 'storage' and some labelled with an address in Mexico. The girl's belongings are also mostly packed though none of the boxes in her room have been sealed or labelled. There is also some clothing and personal effects that look like they belong to a teenage boy in the girl's room."

"When you say clothing do you mean the type of things that a girl might have of her boyfriend, or are you suggesting that the boy has been living there?"

"The latter I'm afraid. In my experience girls usually steal t-shirts and jackets from their boyfriends, not pants, underwear, socks, shoes and schoolbooks and toiletries. Almost all of the recent photos of the girl also have this one particular boy in them. They are definitely dating and we have heard a rumour which we have not been able to substantiate that the two of them got married or engaged several weeks ago."

'Well that would explain why my daughter has bought a wedding dress if she didn't intend coming to Cuba' thought Alejandro.

"Look into that. They couldn't have married without permission and if Maria gave permission then she defaulted on the contract" Alejandro said angrily. "I assume you have a name for this boy? Have you found him?"

"We've identified him as Troy Bolton, he's a senior at East High where Gabriella Montez attends, and is captain of their Basketball team. We've tracked down his address but the family are away for the Christmas break. His friends either don't know or more likely aren't telling where they've gone. The friends are all way too nervous when questioned they're hiding something. They also seem angry but I can't tell whether they are angry at the Boltons, Gabriella and Maria Montez or us for asking questions. It is possible that Maria and Gabriella Montez are with the Boltons wherever they are. We're in the process of putting a trace on the boy's phone and bank accounts and those of his parents."

"No don't do that, I'm scaling down the search. Eduardo and I have cancelled the wedding so it's no longer imperative that they be found before the 28th." Alejandro sighed; he wanted to see his daughter again, to become part of her life. "Investigate the boy further I want to know everything you can find. Also check back on him when school starts and let me know if Gabriella is staying there."

"Yes Sir."

Patricia glared at Troy and Gabriella's backs as they walked away. "Those wedding rings should have gone to Daniel, he's the oldest grandson" she stated resentfully to her sisters Denise, Jennifer and Lucille bringing up an argument they'd had multiple times since their father had left the wedding rings specifically to Troy in his will.

Denise answered her calmly trying to prevent her sister from continuing this grudge and damaging her relationship with their baby sister who currently needed all their support. "We all know why Dad left them to Troy and as the first grandson to marry I think it is very appropriate that he use Mum and Dad's rings, especially as they actually eloped like Mum and Dad did."

"But Dad couldn't have known Troy would marry first let alone elope" Patricia argued.

"Patty stop it," Denise ordered her firmly. "Katie's claim on those rings is just as strong as Daniel's if not more so. I'm the eldest child and Katie's the eldest grandchild and you don't hear me or Katie complaining about the rings being given to Troy. Dad thought that Troy was the most likely to appreciate the rings for what they meant to him rather than their material value and he was right"

"I still don't understand why?" Patricia complained.

"Troy is the grandchild with the personality most like Mum was as a teenager when Dad first knew her. And Troy was the one who would sit and listen to his stories of how much he loved her, how they met and about their elopement. Troy spent hours looking after Dad, sitting listening to him reminisce while Jack and I were busy because he couldn't be left alone. The two of them were very close. The rings mean more to Troy than they would have meant to Daniel or Katie" Lucille answered softly trying to explain in a way her sister would accept.

"And look at what Troy having the rings has led to. You wouldn't have wanted Daniel to propose to his high school girlfriend would you?" Denise asked slyly remembering how her sister had constantly complained about the girl.

Patricia shuddered "No indeed not! His current girlfriend is much better for him" she admitted.

"And even now would you have wanted him to come home and tell you he had gotten married, no matter how much you like the girl?" Lucille asked sadly.

Patricia felt slightly guilty as she watched Denise walk over and gave Lucille a hug. Her baby sister was obviously still hurting about her son's marriage and here she was complaining about the wedding rings.

"I'm sorry Lucy" she said joining the hug. "I feel very selfish. I should be more concerned about how you're coping with all this."

"I miss him so much" Lucille sobbed. "I know he's just over there and he'd come and talk to me if I called him but it's not the same. He belongs to Gabriella now. I want to be happy for him and proud of the man that he's become, and I am but part of me just wants my little boy back."

"That's understandable" Denise comforted her sister. "They are still moving back in with you and Jack after New Year aren't they?" she reminded her. "I'm sure you will feel better then."

"I hope so. It will be good to have him home. Jack still see's Troy everyday at school but he's only been around the house a couple of times in the last few weeks."

"Did you really have no idea that they were planning this?" their sister Jennifer asked hesitantly. "I'm sure Kyle could never be able to pull something like this off without me knowing."

"No, I had suspected that he might ask us if Gabriella could stay with us to finish the school year while her mother was in Mexico for a few months, and I don't think I would have been very surprised if he'd bought her a promise ring for their anniversary next month. But to actually get married before he even finished high school and without telling anyone. I never even considered it. I know he's eighteen but I still thought of him as being too young." Lucille started to cry "I knew Gabriella was special to him but I had thought it was just a typical high school romance. As far as we knew Troy was planning to go to U of A and Gabriella was going to Stanford, now they're both moving to California for college."

"He does seem very happy with Gabriella and extremely committed to their marriage. And it's clear to everyone that she loves him" Denise attempted to comfort Lucille.

Lucille attempted to smile gratefully at her eldest sister. Denise was the peacemaker of the family always trying to get everyone to see the bright side of everything. "Yes they are very much in love. I know the last few months cannot have been easy for them but their relationship seems to be growing stronger every time I see them. I really do hope it works out for them but they are just so young. I'm worried that living in California by themselves and attending different colleges will put too much strain on their relationship and they won't have anyone they can turn to for support. "

"They will still have you and Jack and Maria to turn to. Troy knows that you will be there for him when he needs you even if it is just to give advice over the phone. He'll still talk to you when he needs help, you'll see."

Troy knew that his mother was crying again but seeing that his aunts seemed to have it well in hand and not wanting to start a scene he stayed with Gabriella and his cousins for the time being. About an hour later when Lucille got up and walked into the kitchen with Denise to start lunch Troy made his excuses and followed.

"Hey Mama" he said giving her a hug.

"Hi Troy, How's Gabriella fitting in?" Lucille asked.

Troy shrugged, "She's okay I think, she is always a bit shy with strangers but everyone's making an effort to include her."

"What's it like living with Maria and Gabriella?" Denise asked.

Troy smiled "I love being with Gabriella," he said "Maria's been really cool too though I miss being at home. I feel guilty feeling like that though since next semester Gabriella won't even be able to visit Maria."

"I don't know how Maria's going to cope with that either" Lucille said quietly.

"I know she's worried, she's been showing me how to do stuff to look after Gabriella better" Troy agreed.

"Troy you do a great job of looking out for Gabriella" his mother protested.

Troy smiled and hugged his mother again. "I better get back out there before they tell Gabriella too many embarrassing stories" he said kissing her on the cheek. "Love you Mama."

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Who's coming to get the tree?" Aunt Denise's husband Robert called.

Gabriella looked at Troy hopefully. She'd never had the opportunity to go tree hunting. Her previous Christmases had been spent with just her mother and Aunt Ginevra and they'd always made do with a plastic tree or tree bought at a corner lot.

"We're in" Troy called having seen Gabriella's eyes light up at the thought.

"Us too" called Katie and Samantha who'd just finished helping with the laundry.

"Yeah I'm in" answered Noah as he ran up with Jacob.

"I wanna come, Uncle Robert" seven year old Chase yelled.

"Now Chase you know the rules you can come in a couple of years when you're older" Robert reminded him gently.

"Is there room for us?" Shaun asked diffidently.

"Sure it'll be a bit of a squeeze but the more the merrier" Robert responded cheerfully.

"Give us a minute Gabriella needs to change" Troy asked leading her toward the house.

"Change into what Troy?" Gabriella demanded.

"Boots, jeans coat and scarf" Troy replied "It's a bit of a hike over rough ground, we'll be gone most of the afternoon which is why Uncle Robert won't let the little kids come" he explained leaving the room for Gabriella to change.

"Do you know everyone?" Troy asked as they walked back to the SUV

"Umm.."

"Don't worry" Troy laughed, it took Shaun all week to meet everyone last year.

They climbed into Roberts SUV where the others were waiting and headed out into the forest.

"Hey everyone have you met Gabriella?" he asked before going around and describing who was who.

"You met Sam last night, this is her sister Katie, this is my cousin Joanne and her husband Shaun, and the two brats in the front are Noah and Jacob"

"Hey" they protested.

"They're eleven all eleven year olds are brat" Troy argued back.

"I'm twelve" Noah said appalled that his cousin didn't know that.

"Sorry Noah" Troy apologised insincerely.

"You're gonna get it when we get out of here" Noah grumbled.

"Bring it" Troy grinned at him.

"Settle down boys, it's a long ride yet" Robert reminded them.

"How are you coping?" Shaun asked Gabriella quietly.

"It's a bit overwhelming, I'm an only child of a single mother, Christmas is usually just the two of us and Aunt Ginevra. This is like Christmas out of a TV show" Gabriella admitted, looking sideways at Troy to check he wasn't offended by her description.

"So long as you don't mean a horror movie" Troy laughed

"No I meant one of those Christmas family movies, they play Christmas eve."

"Huh" Troy, Joanne, Sam and Katie looked at her blankly.

"There are special movies for Christmas eve?" Noah asked.

"Yeah of course, haven't you seen them?"

"We never watch TV at Christmas" Troy explained making Gabriella realise that she hadn't seen or heard the TV on at all since they got there.

"Well you're not missing much; they are really cheesy movies about the perfect Christmas or about families reuniting" Gabriella explained.

Troy frowned realising how sad sitting alone watching those movies would have made Gabriella feel after she and her mother had left her father.

"You think our Christmas is cheesy?" Katie asked.

Gabriella shook her head vigorously, "No it just seems a little too good to be true, all of you getting along so well. I barely remember my cousins on my Dad's side but I do remember the squabbling."

Katie laughed "We don't always get along, but Mom puts such a huge effort into Christmas that we feel obligated to try."

"And the grownups are pretty quick to jump in and give us extra chores to do if we fight"

Gabriella nodded having noticed the adults unobtrusively hovering on the fringes of the young people's games and conversations throughout the day.

"It helps that we don't see each other during the year except for this week and one week in the summer when we're all together. The grownups visit sometimes but I haven't seen any of the cousins since the summer"

"Troy didn't come this summer" Gabriella said confused.

"No mum and dad came without me it was the week we started at Lava Springs"

The SUV pulled up and they all climbed out following Robert up the hill. After half an hour worth of hard climbing they reached the tree line.

"Okay spread out and look, we want one about 8 foot tall, nice and bushy" Robert instructed them.

Troy grinned as they separated from the others, grabbing Gabriella's hand and pulling her along until they were out of earshot before taking her into his arms and kissing her enthusiastically.

"Troy, we're supposed to be looking for a Christmas tree" she protested.

Troy laughed and shook his head "Nah that's not the way it works" he explained. "Everyone will pick out a tree to show Robert, but he will pick either Noah's or Jacobs"

"What if they don't pick a pretty one, or the wrong size?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"Uncle Robert will make sure they pick the right size and look around, any of these trees would do."

"Why did everyone want to come then if you already know what's going to happen?"

"Shaun and Joanne probably wanted to get away from the crowd, and Katie and Sam are Aunt Denise's daughters they probably wanted to get away before they were asked to help out. Besides the kids will pick the tree but Uncle Robert will need Shaun and I to help carry it back to the car."

Sure enough before long the boys started yelling that they'd found the perfect tree. Troy and Gabriella joined the others just as Robert declared it the best tree and offered the boys the two handed saw. Troy and Jacob took hold of one end with Shaun and Noah on the other and made short work of the cutting.

Joanne made her way over to Gabriella as they watched the boys work out how to use the two man saw and get in the rhythm to cut evenly, only Troy having tried it before.

"Hi I'm Joanne" she introduced again knowing how stressful her new husband Shaun had found trying to remember everyone when he met the family for the first time.

"Gabriella Bolton" she replied gratefully.

"I noticed that you never really answered when Shaun asked how you were coping earlier"

Gabriella shrugged, "everyone has been really friendly, It's nice to have a big family again after all this time with just Mom and Aunt Ginevra"

"How are you handling the inquisition?"

"It hasn't been too bad, whenever anyone gets started Troy Jack and Lucille have shut them down pretty quickly"

"And the attention?"

"Oh I'm used to that" Gabriella laughed.

"What?" Joanne asked, surprised.

"I get this much attention at school all the time because of being with Troy. At least here everyone is polite whether Troy's with me or not." Gabriella explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Troy's the school superstar, Captain of the Basketball team, lead in the school musical, he even got more votes for class president without even thinking of entering than some of the kids who actually campaigned hard."

Joanne laughed "That's hard to picture, Troy doesn't act anything like that here" If anything Troy was the quietest and least boastful of her boy cousins.

"He doesn't at school either. Troy works harder than any other player on the team, but when you hear him talk about a game it's always about the teamwork or how someone else did something great or has improved or how he needs to work on his jump shot or something. I never even knew he was so popular until someone else told me. He doesn't enjoy being popular."  
Joanne nodded thoughtfully "No he doesn't love being the centre of attention here either though he is a natural leader and peacemaker."

The tree cut Robert ordered Noah and Jacob out of harm's way before he Troy and Shaun hefted the tree onto their shoulders and headed down the hill towards the SUV. It was unseasonably warm and the boys were hot and sweaty by the time they'd carried the tree down and tied it onto the roof of the SUV.

Gabriella ended up sitting between Troy and Katie on the way back to the house.

"Have you decided what college you want to go to" Katie asked Troy.

Troy was a bit hesitant to tell Luke's sister about the scholarship offers he received especially since Luke was so resentful about it. "Almost" he replied "I really want to go to Berkeley"

"I imagine it's more difficult now you're married trying to find a college you both want to attend" Katie said thoughtfully.

"Gabriella won't go to Berkeley; she got an early acceptance at Stanford."

"So you won't be together?" Katie asked surprised. She knew the story of why Troy and Gabriella had had to get married so young but unlike the boys had realised the marriage seemed quite real in all respects.

"Berkeley's only 31.7 mile from Stanford, we are hoping to get a place half way in between.

Gabriella was slightly surprised that Troy hadn't brought up their scholarship offers but went along with it trusting that he had a reason and would explain later. "The other alternative would be MIT and Boston U. They're closer together but I like the courses at Stanford better" she said.

"That and it's too cold and icy in Boston, California sunshine will suit me much better" Troy added laughing.

"So you have a scholarship offer from Berkeley and Boston U?" Katie asked.

Troy blushed "Yeah" he admitted.

"As good as the offer Uncle Jack was boasting about from U of A a couple of months ago?" she questioned.

"A full ride" Troy nodded.

"Why didn't you want to tell me?" Katie asked.

Troy sighed "Because Luke's being such a pain about it"

"He's jealous" Katie said flatly. "He's always been jealous of you. How Uncle Jack always talks as if you are the best Basketball player he's ever coached."

"Troy trains harder than anyone else Jack has ever coached" Gabriella said defensively.

"It's okay Gabriella" Troy murmured.

"I'm not jealous Gabriella. I know Troy has earned his scholarship, just like I knew Luke wasn't really likely to get an offer. He was a pretty good high school quarterback but even here in Billings he wasn't the best quarterback in the league. And his grades were shocking he was lucky to be accepted into college at all, though he won't admit it."

"I thought he would have got over it by now" Troy said sadly.

Katie sighed then explained, "The problem is he's had hardly any game time this season either even when one of the main quarterbacks was out injured. And he's not enjoying his classes."

"So he doesn't like college?" Gabriella asked.

"He loves it. Unfortunately he's having too much fun. He's been partying like a football superstar, not realising that they'll be helped along and he has to pass on his own efforts."

"Is he passing?" Troy asked anxiously.

Katie sighed "I don't know. He hasn't said anything to me. He hasn't been kicked out so he must have passed at least half his subjects."

They arrived back at this point ending the conversation and by the time Troy had helped get the tree inside and into place Katie and Sam had disappeared back to their chores in the kitchen.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, iminlove13, Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5 and Kiara for your support.


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"When do we decorate the tree?" Gabriella asked eagerly.

"The uncles will put the lights on it before dinner and then the rest of the ornaments will be put on afterwards."

"Who does it?" Gabriella hoped she would be welcome to join in.

Troy laughed at his wife's eagerness. "Everyone puts at least one ornament on but mostly the kids under Aunt Shelby and Aunt Belinda's supervision" he explained.

"Why are they more artistic or something?"

Troy leaned down to whisper in Gabriella's ear "Aunt Belinda is a kinder teacher and the truth is that no one wants Aunt Shelby's help in the kitchen, mom says she can't cook toast without burning it."

Gabriella laughed but also silently vowed that she would ask Lucille to teach her to cook before they left for college.

After dinner the entire family, except those still clearing up after the meal, crowded into the lounge room to participate in the tree decoration. To begin Jeffrey lifted his daughter Elizabeth (the youngest child present) to his shoulders so she could place the angel on the top of the tree. Elizabeth's twin Matthew was on his Uncle Michael's shoulders as they placed his special decoration high on the tree. After them Belinda lined up the rest of the children youngest to oldest to put their special decorations on the tree.

Gabriella was surprised to be handed a personalised decoration containing a recent photo of her and Troy taken by Lucille. "Your Mom made this?" She whispered to Troy touched that she had been included.

Troy looked at the ornament and smiled "She must have"

"Show me yours" Troy blushed and handed over an ornament that had a picture of him at about three years old on one side and age ten on the other.

Gabriella smiled "You were so cute" she said turning it back to the three year old side. "Is everyone's the same?"

"Pretty much. Aunt Belinda organised them years ago, but it's up to the parents how often the photos are updated" he explained.

"They don't want a more recent photo?" she asked surprised.

"They've got one" he said gesturing to Gabriella's ornament, "and Mom updated the family photo on theirs a couple of years ago"

Most of the family drifted away after all of the photo ornaments were put onto the tree but Gabriella enjoyed watching as the children hung the other small ornaments before helping Shelby and Belinda pack away the boxes.

"Thanks for the help Gabriella" Shelby said as they finished carrying the boxes back to the attic and piled them in the corner.

"No problem" Gabriella looked around at the mess of sleeping bags, clothing and toiletries.

"I bet you're glad you're not sleeping up here" Belinda said watching her look around.

Gabriella shrugged "The mess doesn't really worry me. It was just that I didn't know anyone. Maybe next year I might stay up here if Troy and I don't have our own room."

"You'd give up sleeping in a bed for this" Belinda asked surprised.

"Yeah it might be fun for a few nights when I know everyone a little better."

"You won't get any sleep" Shelby added as they left the attic.

"I'm not sleeping very well anyway" Gabriella blushed not admitting that the reason she wasn't sleeping was Troy's absence.

Gabriella joined Troy who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and they went out to find the other teens who were playing cards in the barn. Gabriella wasn't familiar with the game and elected to watch for a few hands before deciding whether she would play. She was hesitant to join in knowing that her eidetic memory would give her an unfair advantage.

"You don't like cards?" Sam asked.

"I do, I've never played this though and I'd like to get the rules straight in my head first.

"Did you have fun playing with the little kids?" Will asked teasingly.

"Yeah I did" Gabriella said firmly. "It must be nice to have such a great family."

"They're your family now too" Troy said softly squeezing her hand.

Gabriella smiled, she watched for a while before playing a few rounds (winning each round she played) then claiming to be tired.

Troy also claimed that he'd had enough and walked with Gabriella back towards the house stopping in the shadows to exchange goodnight kisses. "It feels like when we were dating" Gabriella said amused at the thought.

"Yeah except now I can't climb up and in the window if I want to spend more time with you" Troy joked.

Gabriella laughed. "We are only here for a few more days" she reminded him.

"I know, I'm sure I'll survive" Troy joked.

"Aren't you having fun out in the barn with your cousins?" Gabriella teased.

Troy shrugged "Yeah I guess so"

"They giving you a hard time?" she asked concerned.

"Don't worry about it Gabriella, we've always teased each other, it's not malicious" he reassured her. Except for Luke this year, though he didn't tell her that. "I just miss you."

"I miss you too" she kissed him again.

"Goodnight Gabriella, I love you" Troy said before walking away as she entered her bedroom.

Troy rejoined the card game, listening to his cousins stories of football games and school events. "What about you Troy how's your season?" asked Laura.

"We haven't lost a game" Troy replied grinning.

"Does Gabriella come to all the games?" Tiffany asked.

"She tries to. She's pretty busy herself with the Scholastic decathlon, yearbook committee, drama club and stuff, but she comes to most games" Troy explained.

"How did your friends react to your marriage?" asked Katie.

"Our close friends took it pretty well. They came to the wedding and have been really supportive when other people try to give us a hard time."

"How did you get them all to keep it a secret? It was a secret right?"

"We only told them about an hour before the wedding. Gabriella had some trouble talking her best friend into going along with it, but she came around in time for the ceremony"

"Tell us about the honeymoon" Kyle teased.

"We stayed at home Mom and Dad were away for the weekend. It was good to have some time to ourselves" Troy said calmly.

"And..." Luke jeered.

Troy rolled his eyes "None of your business" he said firmly.

"Drop it Luke" Daniel said keeping the peace as his job as the eldest.

"Leave him alone Gabriella is really nice. She wouldn't want Troy to talk about that." Will also defended Troy.

"You two sure got friendly while Troy was out running with Daddy this morning" Luke said trying to cause trouble.

Will glanced at Troy alarmed "It wasn't like that. I saw Jack talking to you and wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Troy smiled "I know Gabriella told me about it" he reassured his cousin.

Seeing that Luke wasn't about to let it drop Troy stood up. "I'm tired. If you can't talk about Gabriella nicely I don't want to hear it. I'm going to bed." He walked over to the far side of the Barn where the younger kids were sleeping, and ignoring his cousins' presence pulled off his clothes and climbed into his sleeping bag.

That night as Gabriella climbed into bed she was surprised and touched to find a hot water bottle tucked under the blankets. Not knowing who'd arranged it she blushed and cuddled in to sleep smiling at the comfort. Jack had spoken to Lucille about finding Troy and Gabriella outside that morning and how Gabriella had mentioned being cold the night before.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Wildcats2016 and Pumpkinking5 for your constant support.


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy hoped to find Gabriella on the porch again the next morning but when he came out and realised that the weather had turned cold overnight and looked to be threatening snow he was glad she hadn't come out. He hoped she'd been warm enough to sleep. Tapping softly on the door of the room she shared with her mother didn't elicit a response so he peeked in and saw she was sleeping. Leaving quietly without disturbing her or Maria, he knocked on his parent's door.

"Dad it's me, do you want to come running?" he asked shaking his father's shoulder lightly and far more gently than his father was used to waking him.

Jack groaned as he looked at the clock "Troy we're on holiday it's too early for this" he protested.

"Sorry Dad I'll come back later" Troy offered.

"No I'm awake now; I may as well get up before I wake your mother" Jack grumbled getting out of bed.

"Rug up it's cold this morning" Troy answered.

Troy handed his father a cup of coffee when he came downstairs a few minutes later. "Sorry Dad I didn't realise how early it was" he apologised.

"Having trouble sleeping" Jack asked concerned.

"I slept okay" Troy shrugged. "Gabriella's asleep this morning at least" he offered.

They set off down the road "I think we should stick to the main road this morning it looks like it might snow" Troy said hopefully.

Jack laughed "I remember when I first came here I loved the snow too"

"You don't still?" Tray asked surprised.

"I still love the look of it through the window, but it's tough to run in. I'm afraid my knees and ankles aren't quite what they used to be" Jack admitted.

"You're not that old" Troy protested.

Jack sighed "Old enough that my knees appreciate the fact it doesn't snow in Albuquerque"

The cold and slightly slippery conditions had them turn back early and they reached the house before anyone was up.

"Hard to believe that this time tomorrow there will be complete bedlam" Jack commented sitting in the silent kitchen.

"Gabriella's really looking forward to it. She hasn't had a family Christmas like this since her parents split up" Troy said.

"She seems to be fitting in very well" Jack commented "I haven't seen that deer in the headlights look Shaun had last year."

"Yeah" Troy agreed happily, he hadn't yet told Gabriella how important these family Christmases were to him and how much it meant to him not only that she'd tried so hard to fit in but that she was actually enjoying getting to know his family.

"Has anyone given the two of you a rough time about being married?"

"Nah. Luke and Kyle have given me a bit of a hard time about still sleeping in the barn" Troy admitted. "It's okay so long as they haven't said anything to Gabriella"

"Do you think they will."

Troy shrugged "Luke's still pretty pissed over not getting a scholarship. And he's holding a real grudge since he heard that I've got more than one offer. It's hard to predict what he'll do. I'm worried about him Dad, Daniel says he's been drinking every night since he got here and Katie says he's out partying every night at school."

Jack sighed "Robert and Denise haven't said anything."

"Well they wouldn't say anything to Mom. Aunt Denise is worried about how she's coping with our marriage."

"You've had the lecture then?" Jack asked having been on the receiving end of more than one of Denise's lectures in the past.

Troy nodded sheepishly "I really didn't want to hurt you and Mom" he said sadly, knowing that while his father hadn't said anything he had also been hurt at not being able to attend his son's wedding.

"We understand that Troy"

"Doesn't mean it didn't hurt" Troy said apologetically as they separated to take advantage of having beaten the usual morning queue for the showers.

Troy had almost finished breakfast before he saw Maria enter the dining room alone. She smiled at him as she went through to the kitchen to help herself to the food. Pretending that he was still hungry he followed her and refilled his plate with food he didn't want.

"You can't still be hungry Troy" Denise exclaimed I don't know how your mother keeps up with you.

Lucille grinned at her now beet red son knowing that he had already eaten more than usual, then decided to help him out. "Where's Gabriella this morning?" she asked Maria.

"Still sleeping, though I don't know how in all this racket"

Troy quietly left the room and slipped into Gabriella's room smiling when he saw he hadn't woken her. He placed his uneaten food on the bedside table and pulling off his jumper and kicking off his shoes slid into the small bed wrapping his arms around his wife.

"Mmmm Troy" Gabriella sighed waking up slowly.

"Good morning sleepyhead" Troy kissed her softly.

Gabriella woke up properly and noticed where they were. "Where's Mom?" she asked knowing Troy would not be there unless they were alone.

"Eating breakfast" Troy replied grinning.

"And does she know you're here?"

"Not exactly"

"Then she could walk in at any moment" Gabriella reminded him.

Troy shrugged, "it's not like we're making love," he dismissed.

Gabriella relaxed into his embrace knowing that he wouldn't do anything to risk embarrassing her and that her mother truly wouldn't mind. "Have you been running with Jack?" she asked.

"Yeah we didn't go far the ground's too icy for running safely and it looks like it's going to snow."

"What happens if it does, the house isn't big enough for everyone to be inside?"

"If we get too rowdy then the little kid's will be sent up to play in the attic and we'll be kicked out into the barn," Troy explained "don't worry there's an oil heater out there."

"So there's no great hurry to get up then? Nothing we need to do?"

"Our absence will be noticed if I stay here much longer but other than that..." Troy trailed off leaving it up to Gabriella whether she minded having everyone know she spent the morning in bed with Troy.

Gabriella squirmed indecisively "Won't it seem terribly rude not to get up and join in"

"Only a few of the other girls are up yet. From the look of them they had a late night" Troy reassured her.

"Don't you want to spend time with your cousins, you all seem very close for not seeing each other during the year."

"We used to spend a lot of the summer and other school holidays here when I was little, helping look after Grandpa. Denise and Robert could manage him in the winter when the farm is quiet. We'd come up for spring break and then he'd come back with us until summer when we'd all come back here. At first the others would have him for a few weeks each once we went back to school but towards the end he wouldn't settle so he just stayed with us until the harvest was finished."

"you didn't answer the question" Gabriella pointed out concerned he was making sacrifices to spend time with her.

"Plenty of time for that, I'd rather spend some time here with you"

They lay snuggled up idly chatting for quite some time before Maria knocked on the door. "Come in" Gabriella called sleepily.

"Sorry Gabriella, I just need my coat" her mother apologised.

"No problem, we should get up soon anyway" Gabriella replied blushing.

"If you're hungry, breakfast is almost finished"

Gabriella's stomach rumbled betraying her just as she was about to deny being hungry in favour of a few more minutes cuddled up with Troy.

Troy laughed "I guess it's time to get up" he said leaping out of bed and pulling the blankets off Gabriella.

Maria had tried to shut her eyes quickly when Troy leapt from the bed but was thankful to realise they were both fully clothed.

The boys wolf whistled when Troy and Gabriella entered the dining room. Gabriella blushed and rushed through to the kitchen as the adults showed their disapproval at the bows loud and rude behaviour. Troy followed unconcerned.

"Troy! Not again!" his mother asked horrified.

Gabriella looked up shocked "What's wrong?" she asked worried that Lucille was upset with Troy for crawling into bed with her that morning.

"He's had three large servings already he cannot possibly be still hungry" Lucille declared from where she was washing up the end of the breakfast dishes.

Gabriella giggled in relief "I bet he could" she said

"Actually you're right Mama. I'm not hungry" he said kissing his mother on the cheek.

"Then what are you doing in the kitchen. I'll put you to work" she threatened.

"I just came in with Gabriella, she hasn't had breakfast yet" Troy explained.

Gabriella felt awkward seeing that breakfast had been cleared away. "It's okay I'll just get a drink of milk, I can wait til lunch"

"Nonsense" Denise smiled at her what do you like in your pancakes, I have blueberries, bananas or choc chips left"

Gabriella blushed "Blueberries please. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make extra work"

"It's fine there's plenty of pancake mix left and Michaela, Abby and Yvonne aren't down yet either" Denise reassured her.

Gabriella elected to sit at the kitchen table rather than face the others in the dining room.

"What are your plans for the day" Lucille asked.

"Don't really have any" Troy replied. "I probably should get some practice in before it snows seeing I didn't do much yesterday."

"Didn't do much" Belinda exclaimed "you were out there for more than an hour not to mention running Jeffrey into the ground."

Troy grinned. His uncle Jeffrey had got up as he and Jack had left yesterday and had tried to accompany them on their morning run only to pull up about a mile in and decide to walk back to the house. Jack and Troy had continued for about another mile before returning catching up with Jeffrey as they entered the lane. "Do you know where Dad is?" he asked his mother.

"He and Stuart were in the lounge reading the paper"

"Thanks Mama" Troy gave his mother and his wife a kiss on the cheek. "Will you be okay if I go play for a bit?" he asked quietly.

"Sure" she grinned "I'm sure I can find something to do"

"Go on Troy we'll take care of her"

Tory entered the lounge to hear his father discussing the current news with his Uncles Stuart Michael and Edward. Things were beginning to get a little heated so he interrupted to keep the peace.

"Hey Dad wanna play a little one-on-one, or two-on-three he offered looking at his uncles.

"You think that the two of you can beat the three of us" Ed laughed.

Troy looked them over for another moment "Well yeah" he said cheekily.

"You're on" Stuart exclaimed dragging his brothers-in-law into the game. "Meet you on the court in ten minutes"

"Be prepared to go down" Jack jeered playfully.

Michael and Edward exchanged glances as they walked upstairs to change, they'd seen the three return from their run the morning before and noticed how Jack and Troy looked like they could have kept going while Jeffrey was dragging himself along panting heavily.

"We need to finish this as quick as possible" Ed said knowing that none of the three could compete with the stamina of a teenager. "That or get some of the other boys involved" Michael agreed.

Ed shook his head "No, Troy issued the challenge to us. And I for one would like as few witnesses to this drubbing as possible."

"You think it will be that bad?"Michael questioned uneasily.

"When's the last time you played Basketball? I saw Troy play at the New Mexico state championships last year; he's got a scholarship for a reason."

Edward's fears were justified. Troy and Jack spent hours each week playing together and were able to read each other's intentions very well. The other three were totally outclassed by the Bolton teamwork and soon conceded defeat, moving to the sidelines to watch Troy take on his father.

Denise called them in for a late lunch before Troy and Jack called it quits. Jack was struggling to keep up with Troy's speed and stamina but was unwilling to admit defeat. They both came in hot and sweaty in spite of the frigid temperature. Lucille blocked their way as they went to enter the dining room "Uh Uh" she said "Go shower up before you eat."

Troy looked hopefully at Gabriella and she laughed shaking her head. "Go shower I'll get you some clean clothes" she offered.

Gabriella walked across to the barn and after a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light walked unhesitatingly over to Troy's bag and started to go through it looking for clothing and toiletries.

"I can't believe you'd go through his bag like that" Katie remarked.

"He needs clean clothes" Gabriella dismissed the question.

"What if he's got your present in there?" Will demanded.

"If my present was in here he wouldn't have wanted me to come and get his clothes" Gabriella replied pragmatically.

"I can't believe he trusts you to let you go through his bag" Kyle said in a tone that suggested that he believed Troy would be upset about her doing this.

"How'd you know that was Troy's bag they all look pretty much the same?" Sam asked curiously.

"I'm his wife why wouldn't he trust me. Besides who do you think helped him pack?" She collected the clothes and returned to the house entering the downstairs bathroom without knocking.

"Troy?" she called confirming it was him before leaving his clothes.

"Gabriella?" Troy asked slightly surprised she hadn't left the clothes at the door. He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower drying his hair with the towel.

Gabriella eyed her husband's body admiringly but knowing that most of the household knew where they were didn't feel free to show her appreciation. She put the clothes on the vanity and turned to go.

Troy smiled wryly to himself as she left. It would have been nice if she'd felt confident enough in herself to shower with him but he knew that it was never likely to happen when all the family were within hearing range and aware of where they were. It was a huge step that she'd even come in while he was showering with the whole family watching her.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and xostephanie66 for your support.


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Disclaimer: i do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters.

The snow started to fall while they ate lunch and as soon as they finished the older teenagers were kicked out of the house as Troy had predicted.

They congregated in the barn and tried to decide what to do.

"Let's play truth or dare" Tiffany suggested.

Joanne looked around confirming that none of the younger children were present then shrugged. "I guess we could but we need some ground rules."

"We've never needed ground rules before" Katie said surprised.

"We were all related last time we played. Shaun and Gabriella are not" Joanne reminded them.

"We could opt out if it makes you more comfortable" Troy offered.

Gabriella and Shaun nodded eagerly in agreement.

"No you don't" Daniel said firmly "Now what rules do we need?" he asked getting out paper and a pen.

"No nudity" stated Troy knowing that it was a common dare and not a big deal for his cousins but that Gabriella would be mortified.

"But we always..."

"It's not a big deal..."

"What's the problem, Gabriella's smoking..."

"It's not negotiable. She's my wife. You don't get to see her that way" Troy said making it about him to protect Gabriella.

"Okay I'm writing it down no nudity. What else?" he asked looking at Joanne and Shaun.

"No dares that require us to cheat on or betray our partner in any way" Joanne suggested.

No one objected to this and Daniel wrote it down.

"Anything else?" Daniel asked.

Troy shrugged "I can't think of anything"

"That last one that I can't betray Troy also includes not being forced to tell personal secrets doesn't it?" Gabriella clarified wanting to make sure everyone accepted that.

Daniel thought for a minute "Yeah" he said nodding. "No truth questions about husbands and wives. If you want to know something about someone you have to ask the person directly."

"Also if you say truth this time you have to choose dare next time and vice versa" Katie suggested.

The majority agreed to this and Daniel wrote it down as they all moved to sit in a circle while Kyle fetched an empty bottle from near Luke's bed and Katie dashed back to the house returning with a bag full of unknown items.

First spin landed on Sam who chose truth.

Kyle smirked and asked "What is the worst thing you've ever stolen?"

Sam smiled evilly "My friends and I got into the girls locker rooms after a game and stole all the cheerleaders knickers while they were in the shower." Everyone except Tiffany laughed.

Sam spun and landed on Will who asked for Dare.

Sam rummaged through the bag Katie had brought pulling out a blush pink camisole and French knicker set.

"I dare you to wear nothing but these for the rest of the game" she said handing them to him.

Will walked over to the corner to change and returned blushing wearing the lingerie, stopping to put more wood in the heater on his way back.

The bottle landed on Joanne who asked for truth. "Where was the strangest place you've had sex?"

Joanne blushed "In the photocopy room at work" she mumbled causing a matching blush to appear on Shaun's face as well.

The next spin landed on Gabriella who also chose truth. "If you were invisible what is the first thing you would do?" Joanne asked letting Gabriella off easy.

"Sneak in and listen to what Troy and Chad talk about in the locker room, they always come out laughing." Gabriella said. Everyone looked at Troy who looked unperturbed "Silly things mostly, no real secrets" he said lightly.

Tiffany was the next one chosen by the bottle. Gabriella internally frowned she really didn't know the girl at all. "If you could be born into history as any famous person who would it be and why?"

Tiffany giggled "I'd like to be Grace Kelly and marry a prince"

Daniel went next and chose dare, Katie passed Tiffany the dare bag and she pulled out a makeup set and mirror, "I dare you to let me make up your face and wear it for the rest of the game." Daniel grimaced and moved next to Tiffany so she could reach his face.

The bottle landed on Laura "Truth" she said hastily knowing Daniel had come up with some of the worst dares in the past.

"Who in this room would be the worst to be trapped in an elevator with?" he asked grinning.

Laura frowned "Probably Shaun because I don't know him" she said looking at him apologetically.

Her spin landed on Katie. "Dare" she said defiantly.

"I dare you to kiss Will on the cheek and tell him you love him and think he's sexy" Everyone looked at Will sitting there almost shivering in the pink lingerie and grinned as Katie walked over and completed her dare.

"I love you cousin and I think you look sexy in that" she said kissing him lightly. Will gave her a quick hug. "Thanks Katie" he said.

"You're freezing" she exclaimed dragging him over nest to the fire and stoking it up. The whole group moved over to join them.

Troy was the next victim "Truth" he said hesitantly.

"What is the best thing and the worst thing about being married?" she asked curiously.

Troy grinned at Gabriella who was now watching him anxiously "The best thing is getting to spend so much time with Gabriella, and not having to get up at four o'clock to sneak back home. The worst thing was hurting Mom"

"That's not about being married" Katie argued.

"There is nothing about being married to Gabriella that I don't like" Troy replied leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"I'll show you how to give her a proper kiss" Luke jeered winking at Gabriella flirtatiously. Troy ignored him and spun the bottle which ended up pointing to Shaun.

"Dare" he said quickly not wanting to be asked about his marriage.

"I dare you to eat a bite of this" Troy said handing him an onion. Troy got up and collected a handful of cokes handing one to Shaun as he finished.

Ironically Joanne the next turn went to Joanne. "Dare" she said smiling at her husband cheekily.

He pulled out is iphone "Dance like Brittany Spears for two minutes" he said starting the music.

Harrison was next "Dare" he said hesitantly not having played with the older teens before "Completely swap clothes with Abby" Joanne said.

Harrison and Abby who were almost exactly the same size shrugged and went over to use the half walled animal pens to change

Harrison came back looking strange in Abbeys pink jeans which while not too loose or tight just did not quite fit. He spun the bottle and it landed on Kyle.

"Dare" Kyle said remembering some of the embarrassing questions he'd asked his older cousins at that age.

Harrison looked disappointed for a moment before saying "I dare you to tell us your most embarrassing sexual experience"

"That's a truth question" Kyle protested looking at Daniel and Joanne to adjudicate.

"Kyle's right it's not a dare" Daniel said after a moment.

"Yes it is" Harrison argued.

"Ask a different dare or forfeit your turn" Joanne said firmly ending the argument, handing him the dare bag.

"I dare you to wear a diaper for the rest of the day and text a photo of yourself wearing it to your girlfriend" Harrison said angrily wanting to humiliate his brother.

"I haven't got a girlfriend" Kyle said quietly hoping he wouldn't have to text it to his ex-girlfriend who would probably print it and pin it on all the school billboards.

"No texting." Katie said firmly.

"No involving outsiders" Will agreed removing Harrison's phone from his hand and passing it to Daniel.

Kyle sighed in relief and went to put on the diaper. "A little help here someone I can't get it to stay up."

Joanne stood up "I'll go It's not like I haven't diapered most of you before anyway" she said to end the teasing Kyle would get for having to ask his cousin for help.

Kyle spun, and Luke chose "Truth"

"What type of porn do you like most?" The girls all immediately covered their ears and started yelling "No" "I don't want to hear this" "Stop" "Noooo"

Katie reached over and clapped her hand over Luke's mouth. "None of us want to hear this" she said to Daniel and Joanne.

"There's nothing wrong with the question" Daniel said.

"If you don't want to hear the answer wait outside for a minute" Joanne suggested getting up to join the girls outside.

"Exotic Latino girls like Gabriella here" Luke said loudly before the girls were out of earshot.

Gabriella buried her face in her hands and Troy looked ready to strangle Luke for embarrassing her. Joanna and Katie dragged Gabriella back and pushed her into Troy's lap as the others returned to their spots.

Luke spun the bottle and it landed on Troy who was whispering to Gabriella instead of paying attention to the game.

"Hey Troy" Luke called loudly "I dare you to spank Gabriella" he smirked.

Troy paled as he saw the bottle pointed towards him "How many spanks?"

"Tw..."

"Five should do" Daniel interrupted before Luke could finish his answer.

Troy sat up on the chair and held Gabriella securely in place face down across his knee and gently smacked her bum.

"Oh no! You need to pull her pants down. Spankings are given on a bare ass."

"I wouldn't know. My parents never spanked me" Troy declared looking around to see who agreed with Luke. Unfortunately it seemed the majority did.

"And you need to smack harder than that Troy. Spankings are supposed to hurt" Kyle said hesitantly.

"Pants down and start again" Luke crowed victoriously.

Troy deliberately helped Gabriella up and turned her around so that her bottom was facing away from Luke.

She unbuttoned her jeans and Troy gently pulled her jeans and knickers down just enough to expose her bum cheeks.

"You have to count out loud" Luke said enjoying this.

"Three" said Troy smacking again.

"No Gabriella's supposed to count. That's the way dad does it with Luke" Sam said trying to embarrass her brother for doing this to Troy and Gabriella.

"Four" said Gabriella gritting her teeth trying not to cry out and make this any worse for Troy.

"Five"

Troy gently pulled up Gabriella's jeans and stood in front of her to give her some time to straighten out her clothes and regain her composure. She wrapped her arms around him hugging him fiercely.

"I'm sorry" he whispered full of self hatred.

"It's okay. It's not your fault" she reassured him.

They walked back to the circle. Troy sat down and Gabriella sat across his lap.

"Your ass looked hot all red and spanked like that" Luke said winking at Gabriella.

Gabriella looked down and bit her lip her face scarlet with humiliation. Troy wanted to say something to make her feel better but had no idea what he could possibly say that wouldn't make the situation worse with everyone listening in.

Troy spun the bottle and it landed on Luke "Dare" he said winking again at Gabriella. Troy had had enough but instead of losing his temper he smirked and said "I dare you to put a handful of ice cubes down the front of your pants, and keep it there until it melts".

The other boys cringed as Luke gave Troy a filthy look and went to get the ice. No one said anything against the dare though they knew that Luke's behaviour had earned him this.

Luke came back, showed everyone the handful of ice, unzipped his pants, pulled down his boxer briefs deliberately flashing Gabriella then yelped as the ice hit his sensitive parts. He rezipped his pants and sat down glaring at Troy.

"He spun the bottle viscously landing on Abby

"Truth" she said nervously

"What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

Abby blushed "I really liked this guy and we were partnered together in chemistry. I put too much of something into the experiment and it exploded all over both of us dying our clothes hair and faces purple"

"What happened?"

"He laughed it off but he won't work with me in chemistry anymore and that's the only class we had together" Abby said sadly. She spun the bottle to change the subject.

Sam groaned when it landed on her "Dare" she said reluctantly, regretting having chosen truth the first time.

"I dare you to give Katie a foot massage" she said knowing Katie had extremely ticklish feet.

Katie's squeals and giggles were loud enough to bring an adult out to check on them.

"Who's dying in here?" Jack asked looking in.

"No one dad it's fine" Troy replied.

"Yeah Uncle Jack, sorry for disturbing you" Katie said sitting up.

"Dinner will be a bit late, the ladies have gone into town for some last minute things" he told them heading back inside.

"I should go and check on Mom." Gabriella said knowing her mother would not have wanted to be seen out in public before the wedding and worried that she's been left alone.

"Mom wouldn't have left her alone" Troy and Katie both reassured her.

"Besides you can't leave we're still playing" said Sam spinning the bottle.

"Dare" Gabriella said anxiously Sam was the one who had forced Will to wear girl's lingerie. "I dare you to shave Troy's genitals" she said causing Katie and Joanne to burst out laughing, the boys to all cross their legs and Troy and Gabriella to groan.

"There's not enough light" Gabriella said searching desperately for an excuse.

"She's right it is too dark in here" Joanne agreed not wanting to have to provide first aid in this situation.

"There's a reading lamp over in the office and a kettle for hot water" Katie suggested which would also allow them complete privacy for the task.

"Spin the bottle again before you go Gabriella. It's likely to take you a while" Daniel recommended.

Gabriella spun the bottle while Troy collected his shaving foam and razor.

Katie groaned when the bottle landed on her knowing that Gabriella was unhappy with her and asked for "Truth"

"What is the stupidest thing you've done because someone dared you to?" Gabriella asked trying to get an idea of how this game had been played by the cousins in the past.

"In a game, I rolled naked in the snow a couple of years ago and caught frostbite on my toes. And my friends in college dared me to get my tongue pierced. Mom and Dad nearly killed me." Katie admitted.

"I didn't know you had your tongue pierced" Daniela said.

"I don't anymore. It got infected and I had to take it out."

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella walked over to meet Troy and he locked the office door behind them.

"I borrowed Dad's electric razor it might be safer" he said holding it out to her.

"We don't have to do this Troy".

"Yes we do someone will ask to check but I can do it myself if you want me too." Troy said stripping off and climbing naked onto Uncle Robert's desk.

Gabriella plugs in the shaver "How much do I have to shave off" she asked not wanting to shave more than she had to knowing the regrowth would itch dreadfully.

"To here" Troy took the shaver and started shaving.

"Aren't I supposed to be doing that?" she asked.

Troy took her hand and put the shaver in it covering it with his own. "Let me do the work" he said still actually controlling the shaver.

"Can you see what you're doing I don't want you to cut yourself" she said watching him carefully begin to shave his genital sack.

"What do you think?" he asked anxiously when he'd finished.

Gabriella seeing how nervous he was looked up and kissed him passionately. "I think the regrowth is going to drive you crazy in a day or two. And you're going to be stuck in a car with both our mothers and not able to scratch it for hours"

Troy groaned at the thought. "I meant does it look okay"

"It looks fine Troy" she said cupping his testicles "and it feels fine too. But we need to get back out there before they start banging on the door."

"We've got another few minutes I'm sure" he said kissing her again.

Gabriella proved a better judge of timing that Troy in this instance, as someone stated jiggling the doorknob.

"If that's Luke I'm gonna kill him" Troy said quietly.

"Everything okay in there?" called Daniel.

"Yeah just putting my clothes back on" Troy called back making Gabriella blush.

"I need to confirm the dare" Daniel said calmly

Troy nodded to Gabriella to open the door. Gabriella let Daniel in and slipped out leaving Troy standing there in his boxers and T-shirt.

Troy pulled his boxers down for a second showing Daniel the newly shaved genitals before finishing getting dressed.

"How's it feel?" Daniel asked curiously.

Troy shrugged "A little odd now I'm dressed" he admitted.

"And before?" Daniel pressed him.

"Cold" Troy said deadpan before giving his cousin the answer he was looking for "It made being touched more intense."

"Maybe I'll give it a try sometime." Daniel replied smirking.

Troy shrugged "Too much information man" he said.

"Seriously though are you and Gabriella okay after what happened with Luke earlier"

Troy shrugged again "We didn't talk about it but I think so. Is the game over?"

"Yeah the girls got called in to help set up for dinner."

Troy and Gabriella again chose to sit with their parents for dinner.

"Is everything okay? How are you getting along with everyone Gabriella? Did this afternoon with them all scare you out of coming next year?" Jack asked knowing how out of hand truth or dare games between the cousins could get.

Gabriella smiled "It was mostly fun" she said.

"Only mostly?" Maria asked.

Harrison and Kyle had a bit of a brotherly spat. And Luke's still pissed with me" Troy explained.

"Language Troy" his mother complained.

"Sorry Mom. Sorry Maria" Troy apologised.

"Is Luke taking his anger out on Gabriella?" Lucille asked

"No he's flirting with her trying to rile me up."

"You need to hold on to your temper. You know there's nothing in it."

"Believe me Mom I'm trying" Troy complained.

"Troy's doing a pretty good job of keeping his temper, Lucille. I'm really impressed" Gabriella said smiling at her husband.

Troy smiled back at Gabriella happy that she was pleased with him.

After dinner they all gathered to say goodbye to Shaun and Joanne who were going to spend Christmas day with his parents and would be back late on boxing day.

"It's been lovely to meet you Gabriella, Troy seems so happy" Joanne told her shaking her hand before turning and hugging Troy.

"Merry Christmas Troy" Joanne said kissing his cheek.

"Merry Christmas Joanne. Have fun with you in-laws"

Joanne laughed wryly "Not all of us are as lucky as you are with that Troy"

"Maria and I have had our ups and downs too you know. It's Christmas Joey maybe it'll be fine this time."

"I love you optimism Troy."

Shaun shook Gabriella's hand "Nice to meet you Gabriella. Merry Christmas. See you next year?"

"Good to see you again Troy. Merry Christmas"

"Merry Christmas Shaun. Take care of Joey for us" Troy said.

"I've never heard you call her Joey" Gabriella remarked.

"I'm not allowed to most of the time" Troy grinned. "She says she's grown out of it."

After Joanne and Shaun had driven away Gabriella and Troy went for a walk.

"How's your bum?" Troy asked diffidently, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to bring it up but needed to know she was okay. "I didn't want to hit you that hard."

"I know Troy. Luke would have made you start again if he thought you weren't spanking hard enough. It worried me that you seemed to be enjoying it though" Gabriella said looking him in the eyes.

"I hated hurting you" Troy protested.

"You were turned on" Gabriella stated flatly.

"You were squirming right against me it was just a physical reaction" Troy insisted.

"So you mean you don't want to spank me again" she asked archly.

"No."

"You didn't think my ass looked hot all red like that" she teased him.

"Gabriella you have the hottest ass in the world and you looked fucking hot bent over my knee, but I prefer it unbattered."

"Well if you promise not to hit so hard I might let you put me over your knee again."

Troy smiled "Only if you want to."

"Speaking of being comfortable how's it feel" she asked gesturing to his crotch.

"Weird. I can feel my boxers rubbing every time I move"

"So is it a turn on?" she asked.

Troy shrugged "Not really it just draws my attention to it."

"Do you guys play Truth or Dare a lot?"

"We play at least one game each time I come. It depends how out of control it gets whether we play more. It's fun because we're all related. At home truth or dare is about some girl trying to force a kiss from a guy she likes or trying to see someone naked. Here it's about having fun and embarrassing each other, it's more honest" Troy explained.

Gabriella grinned having heard from Chad's wedding speech about how Troy felt about girls trying to trick him into kissing them. "What's the worst thing you've had to do?"

"The diaper thing" Troy mumbled.

"Seriously that was worse than today" Gabriella said shocked.

Gabriella could feel the heat coming off Troy's face "We played all day and they wouldn't let me..."

Gabriella looked at him still not understanding.

"They made me use the diaper. And then Joanne changed me like a baby" Tory said mortified.

"How old were you?" Gabriella asked wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"Eleven" He said returning the hug.

"And what did you do to get back at them?" she asked.

"Dared Joey to rub depilatory foam through Daniel's hair. He thought it was shaving cream."

"And to get back at Joanne?"

"Nothing, Daniel got her back for the depilatory cream by dying her hair blue."

Gabriella laughed at the thought of a blue haired Joanne and bald Daniel "And I suppose she had to get him back and so on and so forth?" she asked amused.

"Yeah that's the origin or our no photo's rule."

"So there's photos somewhere of older dares?"

"I have some at home but most of them got burnt as part of the peacemaking process."

"So you started a war"

"Yeah they deserved it?"

"And you managed not to get involved?"

"We left the next day. The others were here for another three weeks so I missed most of the hostilities."

Gabriella let it drop knowing that it was highly unlikely that his cousins hadn't got payback but that Troy didn't want to admit it.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Siobhan, JesselyricsR5 and Kiara for your support.


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Most of the adults had disappeared for the night by the time Troy and Gabriella had finished their walk. They could hear the other teens having fun in the barn but elected not to join them. Troy walked Gabriella to the door of her room to kiss her goodnight in the relative privacy of the deserted hallway.

"Wait here" she whispered to him before slipping into the room and returning with her towel and toiletries. She took him by the hand and led him to the bathroom.

"Gabriella?" Troy questioned.

"Don't get your hopes up too high" she said anxiously "I just wanted to..." her voice trailed off.

Troy locked the bathroom door behind them and took her into his arms.

"I'm fine with whatever you want" he said huskily.

Gabriella didn't reply but started to undress him.

Troy kissed her fiercely as she stripped off his jacket, shirt and undershirt without reciprocating the undressing. But when he felt her move downwards removing his pants and boxers he hesitated.

"You really like it" he said gesturing to his new haircut.

"Believe me, you don't want me to love it Troy. Once you realise how bad it feels as it starts to grow back you'll never want to do it again. Not to mention how much teasing you'd get in the locker room if you kept it like that when we get back to school."

"You're right" Troy said uncertainly.

"Troy I've always thought you looked fantastic without clothes. You still do" she reassured him.

Troy laughed self depreciatingly "I guess now I understand how you can be so self conscious about your body even when you know I think you're gorgeous."

Gabriella smiled "Well if it helps you understand then that's definitely a good thing, maybe it'll even be worth the discomfort you're going to feel next week."

"Yeah" he agreed.

"I've read about this. Let's see if I can show you some advantages" Gabriella said reaching out and rolling his balls gently in her hand.

Troy moaned as quietly as he could.

Gabriella leaned forwards and licked his sack before pulling back making a disgusted face.

"Tastes like shaving foam" she complained getting up and turning the shower on and pushing him in once the temperature was regulated.

She walked over to the vanity and turned on the decorative lamp before turning off the overhead light leaving the room dimly lit. Then undressing she surprised Troy by joining him in the shower.

"Gabriella" Troy questioned concerned. "Are you sure"

"We're not going to have sex Troy" she said firmly. But yes it's okay." She took her washcloth and soaped it up efficiently washing his body and then her own refusing to let Troy help.

She pulled her bemused husband out of the shower and wrapping a towel around herself, equally efficiently dried him off.

"What are you doing Gabriella?" Troy asked. He felt more than a little unsettled by his wife's actions. The impersonal way she had showered him seemed too personal without being intimate in any way and he was close to wanting to get dressed and leave.

"Getting rid of the taste" Gabriella told him matter-of-factly. She knelt back on the still folded towel and grabbing his hips pulled him towards her.

For the first time she saw him completely flaccid.

"Troy?" she asked uncertainly. This was her worst fear come to life. She'd finally found the courage to take off her clothes in front of her husband in a nonsexual situation and he wasn't at all aroused by the sight of her.

She let him go and hurried to the door struggling to undo the lock through her tears.

Troy grabbed her arms as she was about to open it. "Stop Gabi" he said quietly "No matter what I've done wrong you need to get dressed before you go out there." He turned them around so that he was leaning on the door trapping her in the bathroom.

Gabriella jerked herself away from him and hurriedly pulled on her clothes.

"Gabi talk to me. Tell me what I did wrong" Troy begged.

"You have to ask what's wrong?" she asked astonished.

"Gabriella?" he asked taking her into his arms. "Please..."

She looked at him and saw genuine confusion and hurt but ignored it.

"How can you possibly not know? It took so much for me to find the courage to do this and.. and.. you.." she started sobbing too hard to continue.

Troy continued to hold Gabriella while he tried to work out what she was trying to say. 'Find the courage' she was obviously talking about the shower. He thought about what had happened trying to ignore his own feelings of discomfort to try to pinpoint what he had done to upset Gabriella so badly. He hadn't said anything negative though he realised that this was the first time he'd seen Gabriella naked without telling her how beautiful she looked either. He thought about that for a moment but hoped that that wouldn't be enough to cause such an extreme reaction.

"I thought you wanted me to shower with you"

"I do... but"

"But what Troy. But it wasn't as hot as you expected? But I wasn't sexy enough? But."

Troy cut her off by kissing her.

"But neither of us was comfortable with it tonight. You weren't ready. You were forcing yourself to do something you didn't want to do and it didn't feel right."

"What did I do wrong?" Gabriella asked miserably.

Troy didn't know whether answering honestly would make the situation worse. Unfortunately he hesitated too long before denying that she'd done anything.

"Tell me Troy. What did I do wrong?"

Troy shrugged and tried to put what he'd felt into words "It felt a little too... clinical."

"What do you mean?"

"You weren't enjoying touching me. It didn't feel like you."

"I don't understand"

Troy thought for a moment. How could he explain this without hurting Gabriella. He decided demonstrating might work best and brought his hand up and cupped her cheek "This is me touching your face with love" he took his hand away and then quickly brought it back and rubbed it briskly across her face not hard enough to hurt but with none of the tenderness he normally showed. "And this is me touching you without it. You washing me in the shower felt like that."

Gabriella thought back over their time in the shower and realised Troy was right. She had been brisk and washed him as quickly as she could trying to get the shower over and done with instead of enjoying the intimacy of touching Troy in such a personal way. She would hate it if Troy touched her like that no wonder he wasn't aroused he probably felt almost violated.

"I'm sorry Troy. You're right I was trying to wash the taste of aftershave off. I really didn't intend to share the shower with you. I never even thought about it until I was in there and then I just wanted to finish and get out as quickly as possible."

Troy chuckled "Okay Gabriella but please promise me you won't try it again until you're really comfortable with it."

"I promise Troy" she said hugging him and noticing that he was starting to shiver.

"Are you cold?" she asked.

"I'm wearing a wet towel" Troy deadpanned "I'm freezing"

Gabriella laughed and let him go. Picking up and handing him his shirts and jacket.

Troy dropped the towel and pulled them on and reached for his pants which Gabriella teasingly held out of his reach.

"Gabriella please... I'm frozen here" he begged.

She relented and he finished dressing and put on his shoes.

Gabriella hugged him "Let's start again" she whispered unzipping his pants.

"I'm not getting back in the shower with you Gabriella" he warned.

"I'm not asking you to" she replied pushing him against the vanity and dropping to her knees.

Nudging his still flaccid but hardening penis aside with her nose she slowly sucked one of his testicles into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it before releasing it and giving the same attention to the other.

Troy groaned griping he edge of the vanity tightly. "Gods Gabriella" he moaned trying to stay quiet.

After a few minutes of this torture Gabriella slowly licked her way up Troy's now rock hard shaft and ran her tongue over his leaking slit.

"Gabi please" begged Troy almost incoherently.

Gabriella took him into her mouth as far as she could and controlling her gag reflex attempted to deep throat him, she couldn't get him all the way in and pulled back quickly coughing.

Troy looked down in concern. "You don't need to do that Gabriella" he said gently.

"I want to give you a blowjob" Gabriella protested.

"I'm not trying to stop you. I meant you don't need to try and choke yourself it feels amazing without that" Troy encouraged her.

Gabriella smiled up at him. Then blew gently on his erection making Troy shudder with desire. She slowly engulfed him sucking gently and running her tongue along the veins. This time she wrapped her hand around the base of Troy's shaft and moved it in synchrony with her mouth.

Troy threaded his left hand through Gabriella's hair careful not to push her head forwards onto his erection and struggled to keep his hips from thrusting into her mouth.

"Gabi I'm gonna cum" he warned her desperately.

Her mouth full Gabriella hummed in acknowledgement sending Troy over the edge.

Troy shoved his knuckles into his mouth and bit down hard to stop himself from shouting as he came.

Gabriella pulled herself to her feet and hugged him as his breathing slowed. She took his bitten hand in hers and went to kiss it better "This is going to bruise Troy" she exclaimed horrified.

Troy grinned "Maybe, but it was worth it" he said cheekily.

"Troy" she scolded half-heartedly.

"I'm serious I would have woken the whole house it felt so good."

"Well I'm glad no-one came bursting in to see what you were yelling about but you're hurt. How are you going to explain that?"

Troy shrugged. "I could always tell everyone the truth" he suggested teasingly "That my wife drives me so crazy I have to hurt myself to keep from screaming."

Gabriella looked at him scandalized. "You wouldn't" she all but begged.

"No I'm sure I'll think of something" he reassured her.

Troy realised he was still standing there with his pants around his ankles and his new 'haircut' on full display and quickly pulled up and fastened his jeans blushing.

"You're still embarrassed?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"It's silly I know but.." Troy shrugged turning even redder.

"It's fine Troy it will be back to normal in a week or so"

"Well did you find out what you wanted to know?" Troy asked uncertainly.

Gabriella smiled "I found out a couple of things" she confirmed "but I don't know you want to hear them."

"Of course I do Gabriella" he said wanting her to be open with him whether he liked her conclusions or not.

"Well one your testicles taste better without shaving cream" she said lightly "and they feel better in my mouth bald, but there's not much difference in my hands." She said putting her hand back down the front of his pants.

Troy nodded expecting her to tell him that she would like him to continue shaving down there.

"Two, that it really didn't make much difference giving you a blowjob because I still can't swallow more than about half of you, though maybe it would if I ever learn to deep throat." Troy swallowed his erection twitching at the thought.

"Three being shaved makes your erection look even bigger and I think it looks really sexy, and I like the fact that no one but me has seen you like this."

"And four, I really miss the super confident Troy with hairy testicles. I hate that something so small has made you feel so insecure." Gabriella brought her other hand up to cup Troy's face and drew him kissing him tenderly.

Troy returned the kiss willingly but refused to deepen it. He pulled at Gabriella's hand until she removed it from his jeans. "Gabriella, we have to stop. It's late and you need to get some sleep. The kids will be up at dawn if not before that."

He unlocked the bathroom door and walked her to her room "Goodnight Gabriella, Merry Christmas" he said kissing her softly.

"Merry Christmas Troy, sleep well"

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13 and Siobhan for your support.


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: I'm not going to make long lists of who got what because I find that boring to read. So just assume that everyone was pleased overall with their presents, and nobody is seriously jealous of anything anyone else got.

Wednesday December 25th

Christmas morning started much earlier than any or the adults or older teens would have liked. The delighted shrieking of the twins, four year old Matthew and Elizabeth along with Chase, Alicia, Daisy, Thomas and Jacob had roused the entire clan around four am nearly four hours before sunrise. They all crowded into the family room in various states of dress the children in pyjamas and robes and the adults in hastily pulled on and often mismatched clothing. Robert added wood to the fire which had been burning throughout the night so the room was cosy.

Gabriella sat sleepily on Troy's lap in the corner as gifts were distributed in reverse age order. Each family all bought for all of the children but the adults received presents only from their immediate family and one secret Santa present. Troy knew that this would be his last year being included in the children's gift giving and that most of his gifts would probably be things he would need when he left for college so he was more curious about what he would receive than excited. He hoped that most of his gifts would be things that could be used by both Gabriella and himself and that she wouldn't feel ignored by his family.

Elizabeth was thrilled with the My Little Pony toys Lucille had bought, but Matthew was less than impressed with the basketball Jack had insisted on. The rest of the family had laughed at him but to Gabriella's surprise Jack did not seem at all disappointed.

"He gets all the boys a basketball" Troy whispered to her. "He'll play some one on one with Matthew this afternoon and tomorrow and hopefully Matt will enjoy it."

"I'm sure he'll love the attention even if he doesn't end up liking basketball" Gabriella suggested.

"Yeah he will" Troy agreed and he'll probably like basketball too until his brothers tell him that playing Basketball's not cool."

Troy as he expected got a toaster, kettle, iron and stuff for his apartment from his aunts and uncles, clothes from his Mom and new trainers from his dad.

Gabriella had bought Troy a Lakers' Jacket and tickets to their game coming up in New Mexico in January.

She'd burnt him a new CD of their favourite songs, she also had a new framed photo of the two of them for him but thought he might prefer not to be given it in front of his cousins.

Troy knowing that Gabriella and Maria had already purchased every book, gadget and clothing item Gabriella could possibly need for the next year had bought Gabriella a gold bracelet, and a frame for their wedding photo.

They had got both their parents framed wedding portraits which the entire family gushed over.

Once the gift giving was over most of the adults not involved in preparing the Christmas dinner went back to bed leaving the teenagers to supervise the children. Troy and Gabriella having had less than three hours sleep curled up in one of the big armchairs together and dozed off in spite of the noise.

Luke suggested to Daisy and Alicia that they try out their new marker pens by drawing on Troy's face.

Surprisingly Troy didn't wake but Katie quickly put an end to the game before they could attempt to draw on Gabriella scolding the girls and threatening to take away their markers if they did it again.

Gabriella laughed at the sight when they were woken for breakfast around eight but luckily the aunts all had enough common sense to buy washable markers and a quick wash fixed the problem.

Breakfast was cereal and toast this morning in preparation for a midday feast. Afterwards Gabriella encouraged Troy to go running while she helped in the kitchen.

"You sent Troy running?" Lucille asked amused. "It's usually Jack who forces him to train."

"It has nothing to do with training" Gabriella retorted. "Haven't you noticed, Troy's like a hyperactive kid if he doesn't exercise. Running calms him down and helps him concentrate."

Lucille laughed "Jack's the same, but he exercises enough with his job for me not to notice most of the time."

"So you kick him out of bed to run every morning?" Katie asked laughing.

Gabriella shook her head "No need" she said. "He usually wakes me up when he gets back."

Troy only ran a short warm up before joining Will in his uncle's home gym.

"Good night Troy?" his cousin teased.

Troy grinned in reply but didn't elaborate. "What about you guys? Did I miss anything?"

"Nah we just played cards the others refused to play Truth or Dare after the game earlier. Speaking of dares what was it like being shaved."

Troy thought for a moment and decided to answer "I never knew anything could be so hot and so terrifying at the same time." He said refusing to discuss details.

Will laughed "what's it feel like now?" he asked curiously.

"Sweaty. I didn't realize how much the hair helped you feel dry. I would hate to run six or seven mile like this I'd end up really sore."

"So you're not going to keep shaving?" Will assumed.

"No way" Troy denied vehemently.

"Not even if Gabriella asked you to?" Will said playing devil's advocate.

"She won't"

"You sound sure of that" Will commented lightly.

"We talked about it last night. I'm sure there might be some advantages but I feel like a pervert just looking at myself in the mirror, and it'd be too much work to do it every day." Will laughed at this so hard he nearly dropped his weights.

Troy decided to move the focus of the discussion away from his new 'haircut'. "What about you? Gonna keep wearing ladies lingerie?" he asked jokingly.

Will laughed "Get stuffed" he replied.

In spite of his teasing Will was surprised by the amount of exercise Troy was doing. Weights to jump rope to sit ups and push ups with more jump rope between every set to keep his heart pumping. Troy didn't look all that ripped but he was lifting a lot more weight than Will and his stamina and speed with the rope was amazing. For the first time Will truly understood that Troy really would be playing college basketball at the level he saw on the TV.

Troy showered and drifted between Gabriella in the kitchen with his mom, his uncles and the other boys watching football in the lounge and his Dad watching the NBA in the den, his hand in his pocket to avoid notice. He enjoyed watching Gabriella and his mother work together so peacefully with his aunts treating her like one of the family.

Christmas lunch was wonderful, the tables were noisy and crowded but everyone seemed cheerful and made an effort to let go of their normal grievances and rivalries if only for the day, this was the type of family Christmas that Gabriella had been missing since her mother had left her father. Troy and Gabriella found themselves between their own age group and the children, this being the one meal where the little kids didn't sit with their parents. The presence of the younger kids kept the teasing to a minimum though Troy was asked several times what had happened to his hand which he'd covered in bandaids to hide the obvious bite marks.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, iminlove13, MakorraLove97 and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Disclaimer: I do not own high School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella and Troy watched Jack play basketball with Matt after lunch. Gabriella was thinking that one day it would be Jack teaching their son to play. Matt looked very much like she imagined a child of hers and Troy's would look. Matt was a beautiful child with the same bright blue eyes as Troy and a similar cheeky grin but dark brown hair and slightly darker skin. She mentioned this to Troy.

"No" he disagreed "Dad will be out here teaching our son to play long before he's this age. Mom said he used to take me out and shoot baskets on a little toy hoop from about six months old."

Gabriella laughed "I bet you'll be just as bad Mr Bolton" she teased.

Troy grinned sheepishly and agreed "Probably." He thought for a moment "Are you really thinking about this. You want us to have a kid?" he asked surprised, he'd not given it much thought.

"Not now no, but one day yeah! In about ten years maybe. I hope we have more than one."

"Yeah it get's kind of lonely being an only child. I used to envy my cousins" Troy agreed.

"Do you want four or five like them?" Gabriella asked a little worried.

"I dunno, but at least two. After that it's really up to you. You're the one who has to have them."

Gabriella smiled "It's too soon to decide yet anyway. We'll have a couple then talk about whether we want more."

"If we can" Troy said almost sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't supposed to be an only child. Mum and Dad wanted more kids. It just didn't work out for them."

Gabriella hugged him. "They're happy with you Troy"

He attempted to smile but it didn't reach his eyes "Yeah I know, but still. Mum really wanted another one, it doesn't seem fair that all the others seem to have kids so easily and she can't. I could see it in her eyes that she's sad about it everytime we found out I was getting a new cousin. She used to call me her little miracle so I think that it was difficult for them to even have me."

At first Gabriella wanted to just dismiss his concerns, there were lots of different possible causes for his parents being unable to give Troy siblings many of which were not inherited. But seeing the vulnerability in his eyes she realised that this was a huge concern for her husband. "Troy sure I would like to have children one day, but if we can't then we can't. Loving you will always be enough for me, just like it has always been enough for your parents. Please don't worry about that." She hugged him tightly, "Do you want to join in or would you like to go for a walk?"

"A walk sounds good."

Troy showed her around the farm and then they walked down towards the river. He pointed out their favourite swimming hole and told her stories of summer holidays spent swimming there as a child.

"Is this where you got your penchant for skinny dipping?" Gabriella teased.

Troy laughed "probably", he admitted blushing "we used to sneak out and come down and swim after being sent to bed. When the parents found out they started to insist we hung our swimsuits and towels on the line when we finished swimming each afternoon. They were naive enough to believe that it would stop us from going swimming" Troy laughed.

"Did the girls sneak out too?" Gabriella asked amused.

"Not until the last year or so, they sleep up in the attic it's too hard for them to get out without the parents hearing them. Because it was only us guys, being naked wasn't a big deal." Troy explained.

"But the doors of the barn face the veranda, surely they'd keep an eye on it if they worried about you sneaking out?" Gabriella protested.

"Yeah we climbed out the window in back and down the chicken coop roof" Troy explained.

"And how are the girls getting out now?"

"The trees around the house have grown. Recently some of the older girls have managed to get down via the tree near the west corner of the house but it's not very safe so they only come when the moon is bright enough to see."

"And you still swim nude when the girls are there?" Gabriella asked astonished.

"Yeah" Troy blushed at the memory "The first time we were all already in the water, so they caught us big time. It was the full moon and really bright. After that I guess it was a little awkward but we got used to it. There's too big a risk of being caught if we swim in clothing because we couldn't explain how it all got wet. And if we get caught then the uncle's will take turns staying out in the barn with us like they did when we were younger."

"Would you expect me to come skinny dipping with you all too, if we stay here in the summer?" Gabriella asked hesitantly.

"Of course not, I wouldn't want you to skinny dip with my cousins even if you wanted to. The other girls are automatically off limits they are all close relatives but you're not actually related to them and I wouldn't trust Luke and Kyle not to say something offensive, or Harrison and Chris not to embarrass you. Most of the girls wear their bikinis anyway. Girls always seem to have heaps of swim suits so it's easier for them to hide the fact that they're wearing them at night as well as during the day."

"Bikinis would dry far quicker than your shorts too" Gabriella pointed out.

He led her to a ladder and encouraged her to climb it.

"You and trees" she laughed.

"The view's worth it." Troy defended.

"Wow! You're right" Gabriella said as they reached a small platform "but I expected a tree-house."

"No it's not built for us kids, the platform was designed to allow one parent to see the entire swimming hole at once, so it made it easier for them to watch us. We used to leap off it into the water but the last couple of years the river hasn't been as deep as it used to be"

Troy took Gabriella into his arms and kissed her passionately "I've been wanting to do that since this morning" he told her pulling her down to sit on his lap. They spent about half an hour kissing before they were interrupted by Thomas, Noah and Jacob who were daring each other to swim in the freezing river.

Troy called out to them before they could start stripping off. "Hey guys" he said as he helped Gabriella down the ladder.

"Troy" they exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't do it" he said to them quietly. "Kyle, Will and I dared each other to swim in winter one year too and we all ended up with terrible colds and spent the rest of the holiday sleeping in Uncle Robert's study."

"That sucks man" Noah groaned at the thought.

"Yeah it was no fun at all." Troy confirmed "They never took their eyes off us the whole time. We weren't allowed out of the house."

Gabriella laughed as the boys shuddered at that idea and headed away from the river.

Dinner that night was very relaxed; everyone was still full from lunch so Denise just laid out all the leftovers and some bread for people to make sandwiches if they wished to. Troy and Gabriella sat with Jack, Lucille and Maria in comfortable silence everyone tired from the very early morning.

Gabriella, Sam and Tiffany were talking as they waited for the bathroom to get ready for bed.

"You've coped far better with all the attention than most people do the first time they come for Christmas" Sam said to Gabriella "it's hard to believe you think of yourself as being shy."

"Yeah well I'm used to being the centre of attention from school. And it helps that there aren't any cheerleaders here."

"I'm a cheerleader" said Tiffany hurt by Gabriella's comment.

"Yes. But you're not an East High cheerleader" Gabriella said apologetically. "I really don't have anything against cheerleaders in general it's just that they all hate the fact that I am married to Troy. It was bad enough when we were just dating, they tried to break us up at the start of our relationship but then Troy told them all that he'd never speak to any of them again if they didn't stop trying to upset me. Since the wedding though some of them have been really bitchy. Troy and my friends all try to run interference and make sure I'm never on my own but I still hear them talking."

"It's really that bad?" asked Tiffany concerned for her new friend.

"Picture to yourself, the hottest most popular boy in your school, the sports superstar. How would the cheerleaders react if he started dating one of the brainiacs who none of them even knew. What would the cheerleaders do?"

"Oh God! I don't even want to think about it" Tiffany answered shuddering at the thought and left to take her turn in the bathroom as Sam asked "Are you really such a nerd? You seem pretty cool to me."

"I have the highest grade point average in the entire school, and enough credits to graduate 18 months early with a full scholarship to study premed at Stanford. At all my other schools I was known as the 'freaky genius girl'. I had no real friends before I came to East High. Believe me I was a nerd."

"So what was different about East High, you've got friends now?" Sam asked her.

"Knowing Troy made the difference. We met on New Year's Eve so when he saw me again when I started at East High he immediately came and talked to me. With his friendship and support I had the courage to try new things and make new friends. He broke through all the cliques by becoming involved with the drama production and dating a brainiac. He's captain of the championship winning team you know, and friends with almost everyone so as his girlfriend I became popular by default."

Sam and Tiffany laughed at that. "I'm sure it's not just because you're Troy's girlfriend, or wife. We all like you and we don't always like the new girlfriends or boyfriends people bring for Christmas. You're a great person Gabriella, don't sell yourself short."

"I think you're great too. We're leaving fairly early in the morning so I'll say goodbye now. I hope we keep in touch."

"Yeah me too, especially if I get into U of A next year." Sam said.

"You do know Troy won't be there don't you?" asked Gabriella feeling guilty.

"Yeah, Troy told me he's going to Berkeley, and honestly I am a bit disappointed. He was the main reason I looked at U of A in the first place. But I like what I've seen of U of A. I can be away from mum and dad and still be close to Uncle Jack and Aunt Lucille if I need family support. I think I could be happy there if I get in" Sam said shrugging.

"Where else are you going to apply?"

"I've applied to Montana State U both here in Billings and at Bozeman, and the University of Montana in Missoula. All fairly close to home except for U of A. The University of Montana is my first preference but it's also the hardest to get into."

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13 and bajanroyalty for your support.


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Dec 26th

Luke had watched Gabriella over the last few days but hadn't been able to find her alone until the morning they were to leave. He had to admit she and Troy seemed to be tight but he figured it was worth a try even if just to wind Troy up. And there was no denying that Troy's girl was hot.

"Hi Gabby" he said looking her over.

"My name is Gabriella, and I'm afraid I don't remember yours either" she lied not liking the way he was looking at her.

"I'm Troy's cousin Luke"

"Sam and Katie's brother?" asked Gabriella, remembering Will and Katie's comments about how he was jealous about Troy being offered a scholarship and had been mouthing off trying to provoke a fight.

"Yeah. So do you have a nickname?"

"Not really, most people call me Gabriella" she said walking down the hall towards the lounge where the adults were congregated.

Luke put his hand on her forearm "Wait a minute I just want to get to know my new cousin."

Gabriella hesitated she didn't want to be rude to any of Troy's family so even if she didn't totally trust his motives she made an effort to be polite."Okay so what are you majoring in at college?" she asked wanting to direct his attention away from herself.

"PE what are you planning on doing"

"I got into Premed at Stanford" Gabriella replied

"Impressive" Luke whistled "So what's a brainy woman like you doing hanging around with a jock like Troy?"

"Troy's smarter than you think he is. Most of his grades are quite good" Gabriella protested.

"Really" Luke drawled the tone of his voice dismissing the possibility.

"Why do you dislike him so, he never said anything bad about you when he was telling me about all his cousins?" Gabriella asked.

"What gave you that idea? I don't dislike Troy."

"Really" Gabriella drawled copying Luke's earlier response, she turned and resumed walking towards the lounge.

Luke grabbed her arm again but she shook him off and kept walking.

Jack saw Gabriella in the hall with a worried frown on her face and began walking towards her.

"Seriously Troy's a good kid but you could do so much better" Luke stated.

"You're wrong."

"Don't you want someone who would put you first? Basketball will always be Troy's first love, one day you'll get tired of having to compete for his attention during the season. I would never put a game ahead of a lover."

Gabriella forced a laugh "You don't know what you're talking about."

Before Luke could say anything else Jack interrupted "Gabriella's right Luke, Troy's got his priorities straight, she doesn't ever need to worry about coming second in his life particularly not to Basketball. Every decision he's made this year he's consulted Gabriella first. Stop trying to upset my daughter-in-law." Jack gave Luke a stern look and Luke remembered Troy's warning that Jack would not allow anyone to hurt Gabriella.

Luke soon left realizing that Jack was not going to leave Gabriella alone with him. "I'm sorry he was bothering you" Jack told her.

"I'm glad you turned up when you did." Gabriella smiled "Do you think he'll try something with Troy?"

Jack shrugged "Troy has complete trust in you; he won't believe anything Luke tells him. But you should stick fairly close to Troy until we go" Jack replied walking over to where Troy and Lucille were eating breakfast together."

"Well that's no hardship but Troy's stuff is still out in the barn, I can't follow him in there" Gabriella reminded Jack.

"Hmm" Jack replied thinking over the problem.

Looking up and seeing Jack and Gabriella approach together with solemn expressions on their faces Troy frowned "Is something wrong?" he asked quietly not wanting to draw attention.

"Nothing serious" Jack reassured them "just Luke trying to cause trouble"

"What sort of trouble?" Troy demanded

Gabriella sighed "Troy calm down don't give him the satisfaction of knowing he's upset you" she told him wrapping her arm around his to prevent him from going looking for his cousin.

Troy took a deep breath and making an effort to appear unfazed asked quietly "What did he do Gabi?"

"He was hitting on me but Jack came and made him back off" Gabriella admitted quietly keeping a firm hold on Troy's arm.

Troy looked at his father for confirmation that that was all it was.

"Gabriella gave him the brush off before I got there, I don't think he'll try it again" his father said calmly "but it might be an idea to stay together until we leave."

"I need to get my stuff from the barn" Troy answered.

"I'll come with you, Maria and Gabriella need to finish their packing too so after we load your stuff you can help them carry out their bags."

"I'd appreciate that Troy, it will take us about 20 minuted to pack the last of our things" Maria said letting Troy know that she'd keep Gabriella in the room with her until he came to collect them.

They finished their breakfast peacefully talking about their plans for the journey to Utah that morning before troy walked Gabriella and Maria to their room and left to pick up his gear.

It was fortunate that Jack accompanied Troy out to the barn because Luke and Kyle were there horsing around and Luke went to make a smart remark which he abruptly cut off when Jack entered. Troy quickly packed up his stuff and ignoring Luke said goodbye to the rest of his cousins before carrying his bag out to the car and going into the house to help Gabriella and Maria with theirs.

Gabriella and Maria sat and watched while Jack and Troy had a short game of Basketball with Matthew as they waited for Lucille to be ready to leave.

"He's really good with his cousin" Maria commented watching Troy run around the court with Matthew on his shoulders, passing the ball up to the young boy to put through the hoop and then whooping in celebration when he scored.

"He's very close to all his cousins, he really loves it here" Gabriella replied.

"And you will you love coming here every year for Christmas?" Maria asked almost sadly.

"Yeah as long as you come too I think I will. Everyone's made me feel welcome and most of Troy's cousins are nice."

"I won't always be able to come with you Gabi, when you all get older and more of his cousins get married there simply won't be room for me."

"Then we'll have to spend some Christmases here and some with you" Gabriella said simply. "Lucille's family are great people Mom but you're my family."

"I'm going to miss you so much Gabi. But seeing you here surrounded by Troy's family I know you will be fine."

"I will miss you too Mom, but Troy will look after me, and we will come and visit you wherever you end up.

Maybe when you're finished in Mexico they will move you somewhere close to California" Gabriella said knowing that her mother's present company would not give her a lot of choice.

Lucille called them at this point looking exasperated at the two hot and sweaty men. "We don't have time for you to shower again" she said, you'll just have to travel together and Maria and I will take the other car. Who do you want to travel with Gabriella?"

"I think I'll start off with Troy" she said knowing that everyone would be watching them leave. "We can always pull over so I can swap cars if the smell gets too much for me."

They went round and said goodbye to everyone who'd come outside to see them off, promising to keep in touch. Denise invited them for a visit sometime in the summer. Lucille accepted for herself and Jack explaining that they'd probably come at the start of the summer while Troy and Gabriella were visiting Maria.

Jack pulled over onto the side of the road about an hour after they'd passed through Billings and the sun was finally up far enough to drive without lights.

"What's up dad?" Troy asked curiously.

"This is the road where I first taught you to drive. I was talking to Maria the other night and offered to teach Gabriella if she wants me to."

Gabriella looked over at Troy nervously knowing that he had planned to start teaching her once they moved back to the Bolton's. Troy grinned and nodded "You should do it Gabriella, Dad's very patient he makes a good driving teacher."

"Okay, thank you Jack"

"Do you want to learn with Troy in the back or would you like him to ride with his mom for a while."

"It's fine he can stay"

"Seriously Gabriella I won't be upset if you want to do this on your own. If you think it'll be easier to concentrate without me just say."

"No it's fine Troy, though you might be safer with Lucille driving"

Troy smiled reassuringly "I'll take my chances"

He settled into the back passenger side where he could see her, and buckled up. Jack talked Gabriella through the location of the wipers and indicators before allowing her to start the car and ease back onto the quiet road. She was jerky at first but slowly gained confidence. They came up behind Lucille's car not long before they arrived in Gardiner where they'd arranged their first stop.

Because of Maria's growing fear that Alejandro and Eduardo would have people searching for them, they had chosen not to stop in the town itself. Instead Troy and Gabriella waited in the car while Jack went in and brought coffee and snacks for them all and drove on to a small unattended rest stop.

Maria and Lucille had reached the stop first and set the picnic blanket up out of sight of the road. It was too cold to linger long but they all needed to spend some time out of the car refreshing themselves for the long trip ahead.

Jack refused to let Gabriella drive the second leg of the journey saying she'd done enough for the time being. He and Troy were the drivers this time with Maria travelling with Troy and Gabriella while Lucille rode with her husband.

"How did it go?" Lucille asked curiously. She'd seen Gabriella drive up and park so knew that the driving lesson had been successful and was more interested in how Jack had felt about it.

"She's better than I thought she'd be. It wouldn't surprise me if Troy had been giving her lessons."

"He wouldn't would he?"

"Well I would normally say teaching a girlfriend to drive is a great way of ruining a relationship but if anyone could do it..."

"But that truck of his is much too heavy for Gabriella to drive" Lucille protested. She'd only attempted to drive Troy's truck once and vowed never to do it again.

Jack shrugged "I could be wrong, maybe Gabriella is just a very quick learner with things like this too."

"So it went well then?"

"Yes, she was surprisingly calm the whole time" Jack said obtusely.

Lucille shook her head and let the subject drop.

Meanwhile Troy was having a very uncomfortable trip. Gabriella wasn't exaggerating how much the regrowth would itch and he was desperately trying not to scratch in front of his mother-in-law.

"What's the matter Troy?" Gabriella asked as he continued to fidget.

"Itches" he muttered quietly trying to pull his clothes away from his groin.

"Are you cold?" she asked winking at him as she reached past him and grabbed the blanket spreading it out over the two of them.

Troy looked at Gabriella in confusion, while it wasn't warm in the car he doubted a blanket would help.

"Slip your pants down underneath. It might help" she suggested very quietly.

Troy looked at the front seat where Maria was driving and blushed. Eventually though the itch got the better of him and he tried it. Gabriella was right the itch was more tolerable with his pants around his ankles and his knees spread to allow his testicles to hang freely without touching anything. That didn't mean he was comfortable. He was unnerved by not being properly dressed in front of his mother-in-law even if the blanket was doing an adequate job of hiding his state of undress.

Gabriella watched in concern, there wasn't much she could do to help in this situation except make sure that his squirming didn't dislodge the blanket and accidentally expose him. She rummaged through the first aid kit stored under the front seat and found some Calamine lotion which might help but there was no way of applying it without her Mom noticing.

A/N: thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, JesselyricsR5 and iminlove13 for your support.


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They stopped for lunch in Ashton, again Maria drove straight through the town to an isolated side road while Jack and Lucille brought takeaway burgers and pizza.

Maria pulled into the truck stop pleased that this one had toilet facilities and hurried over to make use of them. Troy who had spent the last hour worrying how he was going to manage to pull his pants up without attracting attention breathed a sigh of relief and threw of the blanket. He was shocked when Gabriella stopped him from covering himself.

"Gabriella please! Your Mom will be back any minute" he begged.

"This will only take a second" she said applying the Calamine. "Give it a moment to dry" she advised him, getting out of the car to delay her mother's return.

"Do you want to drive again?" Jack asked as they picked up the lunch rubbish.

Gabriella declined knowing that she would not be allowed without one of the adults present.

"I'll drive" Troy offered also wanting time alone with his wife.

"Okay you two take my car" Lucille offered. "Maria and I will ride with Jack"

"I'll just get my stuff out of Jack's car" said Gabriella grabbing her handbag and the Calamine lotion.

They adults set off and Gabriella turned to Troy "Did the Calamine help?" she asked.

Troy leaned over and kissed her quickly before starting the car. "Yeah. Thanks" he replied. "It's still a bit uncomfortable but much better.

"You're not going to take your pants off again" she teased.

"Not without a blanket to hide under" Troy replied laughing. "But I might want your help with the lotion later"

"You can do it yourself you know."

"But it's so much more fun when you do it" he teased her.

Gabriella laughed and agreed she'd help if he wanted.

It was dark when they arrived at Dave and Rebecca Bolton's, and after a long day on the road they were all tired. Jack and Lucille had driven the last stretch being the ones familiar with the road and troy and Gabriella were again huddled together under a blanket in the back of Jack's car, for warmth this time.

Jack who'd driven for most of the day was tired, Troy and Gabriella sleepy, and Lucille and Maria also stiff from so long in Lucile's small car. In all they were glad to arrive before the heavy snowfall that was expected that night and were looking forward to a hot meal and an early night.

"Okay then we've put you and Jack downstairs in the den, Troy and his 'wife' in the front guest room, and Maria in the back room" Dave said with an evil grin following Jack inside with the bags.

Troy looked at his mother "What was that about?" he questioned anxiously.

Lucille groaned "I forgot about that" she admitted. "The front guest room is the one with the antique metal bed." Seeing their confused looks she continued "it's a family heirloom and actually quite comfortable, but it makes the most horrendous noise every time you move. The whole house will hear whatever you get up to"

"So this is an attempt to embarrass Dad into confessing?" Troy asked.

Lucille smiled "No, not entirely, as a newly married couple you would probably have been allocated that room anyway just to embarrass you. You know what they're like, you should be grateful there are enough rooms or he would likely have set you up in the lounge where everyone would walk in on you on their way to Breakfast. And walked through every night pretending to get a midnight snack or be checking out a noise in the backyard or something."

"Yeah" Troy agreed "So what should we do about the bed?"

"Well I suggest that you try to ignore the noise as much as you can. If you're too embarrassed then you can fake it, just sit and bounce on the bed like Jack used to do sometimes when we had that room. Or you could pull the mattress off onto the floor to sleep so it won't make a noise." Lucille tried to give them options.

"What would be better for the prank?" Gabriella asked Lucille, blushing madly.

Lucille thought for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure, putting the mattress on the floor so it sounds like you're not involved that way will help play into Dave's belief that you're not really married, on the other hand making as much noise as you can as often as possible will allow Dave to tease yourselves as well as Jack about what you are up to. I would expect though that you will get quite a bit of teasing from the family either way."

"So either they'd comment on the noise keeping them awake or try to cast doubts on my ability to perform, lovely" Troy said sarcastically, "Remind me why we came on this trip again." He said pulling faces trying to get Gabriella to smile and relax.

"At least we've got a room together this time" Gabriella reminded him.

Troy grinned, obviously Gabriella had missed sleeping with him as much as he'd missed being with her. He kissed her softly "Yeah" he agreed "I missed you Gabi" he said. They stood there lost in each other's embrace until Troy's uncle called out "Hey you two get a room."

They both blushed and Troy grinned at Gabriella "Do you wanna go make some noise?" he asked winking.

Gabriella giggled and nodded shyly. Picking up the bags at their feet they headed up to their room and slamming the door jumped on the bed laughing when it squealed alarmingly. They lay innocently rolling around kissing and whispering to each other until Gabriella became self conscious of the sounds the bed was making and tried to get up. This led to Troy tickling her until she shrieked. He eventually let her go and Gabriella scrambled off the bed and out of his reach as quickly as she could her embarrassment forgotten.

Troy continued to bounce in the bed while Gabriella unpacked for them both. "Troy" Gabriella protested "stop that!"

"Okay" said Troy grinning at her. She began to back away "Oh no you don't Troy Bolton" she warned him putting her hands out to hold him off as he got up and walked towards her.

Dinner seemed unusually quiet after the chaos of meals with Lucille's family. At first Gabriella enjoyed the peace but with only nine people present the newlyweds found themselves the centre of attention. Jack had told his parents about Troy's marriage and they wanted to ask their grandson about the details. However they couldn't say anything about it at the table though because Rebecca had warned her mother and father-in-law about the prank they were pulling on Jack and Dave and they had agreed to play along with it. However that didn't stop them from grilling both Troy and Gabriella about their college acceptances and what they were planning to major in.

Mrs Bolton also remembered that Gabriella had said that her mother was moving to Mexico for the next three months, and that Gabriella had said that she had not decided where she was going to live. She now suspected that Troy and Gabriella had planned that she would be staying in Albuquerque, but hadn't been ready to ask for Jack and Lucille's approval.

"So have you settled where you will be living while your mother goes to Mexico?" she asked smiling.

"Troy has asked me to stay with him." Gabriella said.

"And you have agreed?" Evelyn Bolton asked her son and daughter-in-law pretending to be surprised and slightly disapproving.

"Yes we have Gabriella will make a fine houseguest for the next few months, having her there may even improve Troy's study habits" Lucille said winking at Troy.

Jack was confused, his mother knew that Troy and Gabriella were married, so why on earth would she be surprised that they were allowing her to move in with them.

"It will be nice for you to have a girl in the house" Rebecca said hoping to move the conversation on before Jack said something that gave the prank away.

"Yes I'm quite looking forward to it" Lucille said smiling at Gabriella "Having someone who's willing to talk about something other than Basketball."

"I'm not that bad" protested Troy.

"Troy" his mother said firmly "two years ago to listen to your descriptions of school I would never have known that you saw anyone except your team or that you even attended any classes other than Basketball practice unless you wanted help with your homework."

Gabriella laughed, "It's hard to believe that, Troy's involved in so many things now." She turned to her husband "Why didn't you do anything else before we met?" she queried.

Jack felt guilty as he remembered his son's single minded focus on Basketball before he met Gabriella. At the time he'd encouraged it but in hindsight he could see how much happier and fulfilled his son had become since meeting Gabriella and joining the drama club and expanding his circle of friends. He hadn't realized that in spending so much time encouraging his son to be the best basketball player that he could be he was limiting his potential as a person. And in fact all Troy's other interests hadn't harmed his skills on the court at all. Troy still worked incredibly hard at training and his game had improved immensely since meeting Gabriella.

"I'm not that bad now though" Troy argued with his mother, choosing not to answer Gabriella's question in front of his father.

"No you're not Troy but you are also extremely busy most of the time. Having Gabriella living with us will hopefully mean that we see more of you as well." Lucille smiled at her son.

"Yeah probably" Troy said slightly ashamed that he'd spent so little time with his mother over the last few months.

Having not slept very well since they arrived at Denise's, Troy and Gabriella retired for the night straight after dinner. Jack and Lucille exchanged amused looks as the yawning young couple left the room.

"Should we make the bed creak?" Troy asked self consciously.

"You can bounce on it while I get changed if you want to but I don't think I could have sex for real knowing everyone's listening to that."

"At least it would cover up any other noise we make," Troy pretended to argue while doing sit-ups making the bedsprings squeal in protest, "but I kind of agree, the noise would be very distracting."

"Do you mind if I sleep without pants?" he asked "I promise to behave?"

"Does it really make that much difference?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah it does. My pants feel like they're lined with sandpaper" Troy explained almost apologetically.

Gabriella nodded her agreement. "Do you need the Calamine lotion?"

"Yeah but I can do it" he offered.

"I know" laughed Gabriella getting the lotion out of her bag and putting it on the bedside table.

Gabriella finished changing and climbed into the bed. Troy stopped jumping and stripped off lying on the bed. Gabriella kissed his penis lightly and applied the lotion being careful not to be too brisk with her actions.

Troy lay there for a moment while the lotion dried before pulling the blankets over both of them. He took Gabriella into his arms and kissing her lightly before they both settled down to sleep.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats 2016, Kiara, iminlove13, JesselyricsR5 and caswinfor your support.


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

December 27th

Troy woke first and lay contentedly holding his wife, he had slept amazingly well and while part of him was bursting with energy ready to run five miles he was loath to leave before Gabriella woke up. They had both been miserable sleeping alone and he didn't want her to wake up this morning without him. Unfortunately he was unable to drift back to sleep and as time passed he began to fidget slightly which caused the bedsprings to creak loudly waking Gabriella.

"Stop that" she moaned sleepily.

Troy rolled over and kissed her forehead. "I need to go run, I have too much energy." He murmured apologetically.

Gabriella all but pushed him from the bed "Go running then" she encouraged knowing Troy would be jittery all day if he felt like this now and didn't exercise. "I'll be here when you get back."

Troy went and knocked on his father's door "Do you want to come running?" he called softly.

Jack groaned and climbed reluctantly out of bed to open the door "Not today Troy, we had kind of a late night" he said looking haggard.

"A late night with Uncle Dave and Jack Daniels?" Troy asked laughing, "Should I go and bang on Uncle Dave's door too?"

"I doubt he'd appreciate it" Jack said with a smirk.

"Well I'm a bit upset with the way he was treating Gabriella last night, so dragging him out running with a hangover sounds like a good idea to me at the moment. That or trying to find out just how loud I can make that bloody bed squeal." Troy muttered.

Jack groaned at the idea of the high pitched noise "Please don't" he begged. "Dave isn't the only one with a sore head this morning."

Troy laughed "Don't worry Gabriella's still asleep."

Troy then knocked loudly on his Uncle's door and yelled through to ask if he wanted to come out running, receiving no reply other than muffled cursing he let himself outside to run alone.

He ran five mile as quickly as he could before showering and returning to his room to dress. He sat on the edge of the bed admiring how beautiful Gabriella looked in the morning sunlight filtering through the lightweight curtains. She was smiling in her sleep and while he was tempted to wake her he remembered how tired she had appeared to be the day before and decided to let her sleep. Removing himself from temptation he went into the kitchen and started to make breakfast.

He'd just finished making the pancake batter and cooking the first batch, when his grandmother came in. "Troy" she exclaimed in surprise "What are you doing"

"Making pancakes for breakfast, there's plenty would you like some?" he asked making up a plate for her and pouring a new batch into the pan.

"Thanks sweetie, but I never knew you liked to cook" Evelyn replied curiously, cautiously helping herself to a rather small serve just in case they weren't as good as they looked and smelled.

"Maria's been teaching me so that I can look after Gabriella when we go to college" Troy explained.

"That's great that you're getting along with Maria so well Troy but have you thought about asking your mother to teach you" she asked gently, not wanting to upset Troy but also letting him know that his mother would appreciate being asked for help.

"I will when we move back there, do you think she'd be upset that Maria's been teaching me?" he asked uncertainly.

"Troy you've always spent a lot more time with your father playing basketball than being interested in any of the things your mother does. She'd really enjoy spending time teaching you to cook" his grandmother explained gently.

"Well I've still got lots to learn" Troy said with a smile.

"You've made a great start though Troy, these pancakes are delicious." Evelyn complimented him refilling her plate.

"Thanks Granma" Troy had finished cooking the pancakes and serving up two plates he kissed his grandmother's cheek and took the plates in to give Gabriella breakfast in bed.

Gabriella stirred as she heard the door open and Troy put the plates down and kissed her softly. "Morning Beautiful I brought you some breakfast."

Lucille and Rebecca entered the kitchen just after Troy had gone. "Evelyn you shouldn't have" Rebecca said as she saw the pile of pancakes sitting in the warmer.

Evelyn laughed "I didn't, you will never believe who cooked breakfast" She stated.

Rebecca frowned in thought "I didn't expect Maria to feel this much at home here yet but she's welcome to cook for me anytime these are great."

"No guess again" Evelyn said laughing.

"Gabriella" Lucille said in surprise "I didn't know she could cook, she's never shown any interest in it"

Maria walked in to the kitchen "Gabriella can cook though you're right she doesn't enjoy it." She said sitting down and helping herself to a pancake.

"Then why would she get up early and make breakfast for everyone?" Lucille asked dubiously.

Maria shook her head "I don't think she did" she said after swallowing, "these taste more like Troy's cooking than Gabriella's."

Evelyn nodded at her in agreement.

Lucille dropped her fork in shock. "Troy cooked these?" she asked her mother-in-law disbelievingly.

"Yes indeed. I was surprised when I saw him cooking too, but he looked like he knew what he was doing" Evelyn replied calmly "I thought you must have taught him."

"How... when... Troy..." Lucille stuttered before gathering her thoughts.

"Troy's never shown any interest in learning to cook" she declared.

"Troy asked me to teach him how to look after Gabriella when they went to college. By choosing to share married accommodation off campus rather than each living in their own dorms Troy knew they would be responsible for their own cooking and cleaning and he wanted to learn how to do his share" Maria explained.

"That's very sweet of him" Evelyn gushed.

"How much has he learned?" Lucille asked more practically though she secretly agreed with her mother in law it was sweet.

"He hasn't learned very much cooking only a few simple things, pancakes, bacon and eggs, grilled steak, boiled vegetables though at least you can trust him not to hurt himself in the kitchen now. But he also does most of their laundry, mows my lawn and is capable of using the vacuum cleaner and cleaning the bathroom. He hasn't mastered the iron yet though."

Lucille looked at Maria in awe "You managed to teach him all that, I could barely get him to keep his room tidy."

Maria smiled "It's all in the motivation, that boy would do almost anything for Gabriella, he's proved that over and over in the last few months."

"I think it's really sweet" Evelyn gushed.

"Me too. It shows a level of commitment that I hadn't really expected even after finding out they were married. It bodes well for their future." Maria said.

"I would have liked to each Troy to cook" Lucille said wistfully "I wonder why he didn't ask me?"

"I'm sure Troy would appreciate you teaching him more. I've really only covered the basics so that the two of them wont starve or set the kitchen on fire next year" Maria said "I think it came about because I was there and Gabriella was so busy with the scholastic decathlon. I'm sure he never meant to upset you."

"Do you think so? He's grown up so much in the last few months I feel I barely know him at times." Lucille admitted with tears in her eyes.

Maria, Rebecca and Evelyn all went over and hugged her.

"I know I went through this with Gabriella a few weeks ago when I first told her of the contract. To be honest I had no idea she was actually in love with Troy at the time. I thought it was just a high school dating thing. Looking back I can't believe that I expected her to get over him within a few weeks and agree to marry Eduardo just because I told her to" Maria said shaking her head at her earlier stupidity.

"You actually expected her to go along with marrying a stranger without a fight" Lucille asked surprised.

"Yes. I hadn't noticed how much she'd grown up and started to make her own decisions. If we'd stayed with Alejandro she'd have grown up knowing that it was expected of her. All of her cousins are in arranged marriages. I honestly think that twelve months ago, before meeting Troy, she would have agreed to it."

"Before we came to Albuquerque she'd never argued or complained when I came home from work and announced that we were moving again, she didn't even ask where we would be moving to the last few times, just packed up her things and helped me pack up the rest of the house without comment."

"Does she keep in contact with her old friends?" Evelyn asked.

"None from Chicago where we lived last, or Minneapolis before that. I don't think she even made any close friends because she knew from the start we would probably only be there less than six months. But I think she kept in touch with one of her friends she made Denver while we were there the year before, I don't know if she still does. That's the main reason I made the commitment to stay in Albuquerque, so Gabriella would know that it was worthwhile trying to make friends there."

"Have you ever lived near here. Would either of you have friends you would like to visit" Lucille asked.

"No we've never been to Utah" Maria replied.

"Do you know anyone in Mexico where you'll be going?" Lucille asked.

"I've met some of the managers in the last week or so, but no-one I know other than that. I'm sure I'll get to know people soon enough" Maria answered trying to put a positive spin on her move.

"Are you worried you'll be lonely?" Lucille asked concerned.

"I'll miss Gabriella, probably even more than I think I will. And Troy and you and Jack too. It's so nice to have friends apart from work, it's been a while since I've had that" Maria sighed.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, JesselyricsR5 and Siobhan for your support.


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Disclaimer: Ido not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella went to sit up as Troy climbed into bed beside her with the plates. She groaned as the movement triggered cramps in her lower abdomen. Her eyes widened in alarm as she realized that she had forgotten to prepare for this.

"What is it? What's wrong Baby?" Troy asked anxiously as Gabriella still wincing in pain got up and hobbled over to her suitcase holding her stomach.

Gabriella flushed scarlet and without looking up mumbled "It's fine Troy, can I have a few moments alone though please?"

Troy put the breakfast plates on the side table and walked across to Gabriella kissing her on the forehead. "Okay Gabi, I love you" he said before pulling his sweat pants back on and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him and leaning on it agitatedly waiting to be let back in.

After a few moments that felt impossibly long to Troy, Gabriella called out that he could come back. He rushed in and she saw the worry and uncertainty on his face.

"It's okay Troy." She tried to reassure him.

"What happened? Did I do something wrong?" he asked nervously.

Gabriella smiled sadly, Troy seemed so much more vulnerable since they had got married, she wondered whether he'd always been like this and she was just noticing now because they were much closer and he was being more open about his feelings or if being married actually did make him feel insecure.

"When I went to sit up I felt the start of the stomach cramps that indicate my period is about to start" she explained blushing.

"Oh can I do anything to help?" Troy asked blushing.

"Will you come back to bed and hold me?" she requested quietly.

Troy grinned and jumped back into the bed making the bedsprings protest loudly, he handed Gabriella her plate and started to eat his own.

"Did you make these?" she asked appreciatively.

"Yeah, no-one else was up and I was too hungry to wait" Troy admitted.

"Did you make enough for everyone?" she asked curiously.

"Just the ladies from the look of Dad he and Uncle Dave won't be interested in breakfast today" Troy replied grinning.

"They'll be surprised to find a pile of pancakes cooked. Are they all up already?" Gabriella commented wishing she could have seen his family's faces when they saw Troy cooking.

"Grandma came in as I was about finished and I heard mum and Aunt Becky coming down the stairs as I came back in here"

They finished their breakfast and Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella lying back and softly rubbing Gabriella's lower belly.

Gabriella moaned "Oh that feels good"

Troy shifted slightly to hide his reaction to her moan. Unfortunately Gabriella noticed his movement and began apologising "Troy I'm..."

"Shhh don't worry."

"But we've you've been waiting for us to be able to be alone and now. If I'd known this was going to happen this morning I would have..."

"Baby it's all right, I missed sleeping with you in my arms more than anything. It's fine, you don't ever need to apologise for this. It's actually a bit of a relief that you got your period, I've kinda been expecting it a for a couple of days."

"Were you worried?" she asked surprised Troy had known when she was due.

"Yeah a little bit, I know we've been careful but I'm glad to know for sure that your not..." He trailed off. "One day I want to have a family with you Gabriella, but I don't want to screw up and ruin your life."

"Even if the worst happened and we did fall pregnant I know we could make it work Troy. It wouldn't ruin my life."

"But you'd have to give up Stanford" Troy said frowning.

"I didn't say I would be happy about it Troy but if we had to we'd find a way to deal with it" Gabriella said closing her eyes.

"Are you still tired?" Troy asked concerned.

"A bit but the pain medication makes me sleepy too" she explained. "I'm glad it didn't start yesterday when we were stuck in the car all day."

Troy and Gabriella didn't emerge from their room again to almost lunchtime. Jack and Dave were sitting in the lounge with expressions that suggested Rebecca had followed through on her threat the night before to hide the painkillers if they were stupid enough to drink themselves silly then they should have to live with the consequences. The consequences also seemed to include a lot of loud banging and Christmas music now that Troy and Gabriella were up.

"Have a good night?" Dave asked winking at Troy.

"Yes we did. The bed is very comfortable" Troy said trying to keep a straight face.

"It makes a bit of noise at certain times" Dave mentioned with a knowing look.

Troy and Gabriella blushed at the innuendo and Jack jumped in telling Troy about the Basketball game they were watching and asking his opinion on the players.

Gabriella quickly made her excuses and retreated into the kitchen.

"Good morning Gabriella" Maria said smiling at her daughter.

"You look much better. Did you have a nice lie in? You looked exhausted last night" Evelyn commented.

"Sorry I slept so late. I didn't sleep very well at Denise and Robert's. It was good to catch up a bit." She walked over and put the plates she'd brought from the bedroom in the sink.

"Oh good you've eaten." Lucille said "Troy's pancakes were really good."

Gabriella smiled at her mother-in-law "He'll be pleased to hear you say that" she said.

"Did Dave say anything?" Rebecca asked eagerly wanting to know if their prank was working.

"He asked if we'd had a good night and made some innuendo about the bed creaking" Gabriella replied shyly.

"He didn't upset you did he?" Lucille asked.

"Not really though Troy's a bit annoyed with him" Gabriella commented.

"Yes I know he was quite loud this morning trying to get Dave to get up and run. Didn't want to take no for an answer though I notice he didn't do it to Jack" Rebecca laughed ruefully having also been woken before the crack of dawn.

"He woke Jack first. That's how he knew Dave would be hung-over" Lucille laughed.

"Seems like Troy woke the entire house. You've got to stop kicking the boy out of bed like that Gabriella" Jim said coming in with Dave to get more drinks.

Gabriella blushed hotly and nearly choked on the glass of water she was drinking.

"Leave the poor girl alone" Evelyn scolded her husband.

"I wouldn't have left a girl like that lonely in my bed when I was Troy's age" Jim retorted.

"James Bolton" Evelyn said scandalised.

"What it's true." Jim defended.

"Yes well you'd use any excuse not to get up and run. Troy's not as lazy as you are" Evelyn teased her husband.

"Jack wouldn't let any girl come between Troy and his training" Dave said looking at Gabriella suspiciously.

"I don't come between Troy and his training and Jack has nothing to do with it" Gabriella retorted crossly getting up and walking away.

She headed back to the lounge where she knew Troy and Jack would be on their own. She grabbed Troy's hand and pulled him with her into their bedroom.

"What's the matter Gabi?" Troy asked concerned.

"Your grandfather doesn't like me" she said sadly.

"Why? What did he say?" Troy demanded ready to go and tell off his grandfather for upsetting Gabriella.

"He accused me of kicking you out of bed this morning. Then of getting in the way of your training" Gabriella explained uncertainly.

Troy frowned. "He's probably grumpy that I made so much noise this morning to wake up and annoy Uncle Dave knowing he'd have a hangover. And if Uncle Dave and Dad got plastered last night you can bet Grandpa had more than a few as well." He took Gabriella into his arms "besides he's a Bolton he can't help but adore you, it's in our genes."

Gabriella laughed in spite of herself.

"That's better, let's make some noise" he suggested picking her up and throwing her on the bed.

Her complaints were drowned out but the shriek of protest from the bed itself as Troy climbed on beside her and started to bounce.

"Troy please stop" she begged.

Troy stopped immediately "Am I hurting your stomach" he asked concerned.

"More my ears" she said referring to the awful noise the bed made every time they moved. "It sounds like it's about to fall apart."

"It won't you know, it's always sounded like this. I remember jumping on it when I was a kid" he laughed. "Now I understand why Dad used to encourage me to jump on the bed when I was never allowed to do it anywhere else."

Gabriella laughed too.

"We should get up" Gabriella suggested half heartedly an hour later.

"Mmhmm" said Troy holing her tighter to prevent her from moving.

"Troy" she protested.

"Comfortable" grumbled Troy. His stomach rumbled in disagreement.

"Sure you are" Gabriella smirked. "Now let's get up and join the others, it's almost lunchtime."

A/N: thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5, Kiara and iminlove13 for your support.


	79. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella and Troy hesitated in the kitchen doorway. Rebecca was there on her own. She looked up and smiled ruefully.

"I owe you both an apology" she said "when I suggested this prank I had no idea it would make this visit so difficult for you. We can call it off if you want" she offered reluctantly.

Gabriella looked at Troy. "It would make it worse if we called it off now" he told her quietly.

"We agreed to go along with it" she decided.

"Very well then is there anything I can do to make this easier?" Rebecca asked sympathetically.

"I don't think so? Unless you can reign in Grandpa" Troy said knowing that he was asking the impossible.

"Even Evelyn hasn't managed that in 50 years, what hope do we have" Rebecca laughed ruefully.

"Would you like some help getting lunch ready?" Gabriella asked.

"Don't tell me you can cook too. Troy's already put me to shame with those pancakes this morning." Rebecca teased them. "There's really not much to do, Evelyn and I made the soup the other day all I need to do is heat it up" she said getting a large container out of the fridge and tipping it into the saucepan setting it on a very low heat "See all done."

"Where is everyone?" Troy asked.

"The boys are still in the lounge watching basketball" Rebecca replied rolling her eyes at Gabriella. "And Lucille Evelyn and Maria are upstairs looking at the wedding photos" she added in a whisper.

"You didn't want to join them?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh, I'm about to. I just needed to get this started." She set the timer and left the kitchen.

Gabriella followed Rebecca upstairs while Troy headed into the lounge.

"Troy you finally joined us" Dave greeted winking at his nephew in an overly obvious way.

Troy ignored him and went to sit next to his father asking about the game.

"It's a replay of last week's Lakers game" Jack told him. "The one you didn't want to watch" he added teasingly.

"Gabriella was waiting for me" Troy reminded his father mildly.

"Yes you and a basketball game cannot compete with such a lovely lady waiting for him in his bed Jack" Dave teased his brother.

Jack ignored him and Dave turned his teasing on Troy.

"You two gave that bed a bit of a workout, I think even the neighbours might have heard you."

Troy knew from past years that this was ridiculous, the bed made an awful high pitched shrieking noise but it didn't carry as far as the neighbour's property let alone be heard inside the house. He refused to let them embarrass him and laughed saying "I'm sure they would have complained about it by now if it was a problem. That bed has always made that horrendous noise. Have you thought about having it repaired?"

Jack and Jim laughed at Troy's calm rejoinder, knowing that Dave and Rebecca deliberately didn't have the antique bed restored specifically so that they could tease their guests with and about the noise.

"Who says we didn't you were obviously way too enthusiastic and broke it again" Dave lied.

"HaHaHa" said Troy sarcastically calling his uncle on the lie.

Dave thought about saying more, he wanted to know who this Gabriella really was and what she was doing with them not believing that she could be Troy's wife but not wanting to ask outright in front of Jack as he didn't want his brother to know he hadn't fallen for his prank. He thought about it and realised he could ask about her so long as he was careful not to make it seem he believed or disbelieved in 'the marriage'.

"How did you and Gabriella meet Troy?" he asked.

"We met at a New Year's Eve party while we were skiing then her mom got transferred to Albuquerque and she came to East High" Troy explained.

"They met singing karaoke" Jack interjected. "He fell in love with her voice and the rest followed."

"Really we'll have to find a place that does karaoke to go to on Saturday" Dave said amused.

Troy groaned at the idea though he wasn't really that upset. If he encouraged them to think he didn't like the idea it would give his uncle and his grandfather another outlet to tease them that wouldn't upset Gabriella.

Dave was serious about the karaoke, if the story was fake they would give themselves away. And if it wasn't he'd have something to tease his nephew about.

Meanwhile upstairs Evelyn and Rebecca were admiring the wedding photos Lucille was showing them. "This photographer's amazing, he really captured the perfect moments. It must have cost you a fortune to get someone that good" Rebecca said having recently attended a niece's wedding and seen her photos.

"Mrs Anderson was amazing photographer and she's a lovely woman too. She didn't charge us anything except what it cost her to have the prints made" Gabriella replied.

"Is she a family friend?" Evelyn asked surprised.

"No she's the minister's wife, he offered to ask her to come and take photos when he offered to do the wedding" Gabriella explained. She looked around confused "I thought Mom was with you" she said.

"She said she needed the bathroom" Lucille said quietly, gesturing that Gabriella should go to her.

Gabriella remembered how upset Lucille had got looking at the photos and realised that this might be her mom's first time seeing them. She quickly excused herself and went looking for her mother.

"Mom, are you okay?" Gabriella asked finding her mom sitting on her bed with her head down.

Maria raised her head and Gabriella could see the tears running down her face. "Oh Gabi, you looked so beautiful, and you and Troy look so happy"

Gabriella smiled as she hugged her mother. "Troy and I wished you could have been there to see it, but we couldn't find a way that you could come without stopping the wedding" she said quietly.

"There was no way" Maria agreed sadly. "You and Troy would have found it if there was. Troy obviously went to a great deal of trouble to make your wedding day as perfect as possible."

"It was amazing that he managed to organise it all and keep it a secret, even I didn't know most of the plan" Gabriella laughed. "I was so shocked when Troy led us to the church instead of the courthouse."

"You wore that dress for a courthouse wedding" Maria asked amused.

"Yeah it was so perfect and I wanted to look my best for Troy"

"It would have looked very out of place in the registry office"

"I didn't care. I wanted our wedding to be at least a little bit special to have one part of it that I wouldn't wish we had been able to do differently"

"Is there anything you would have done differently if you had been planning the wedding."

"Other than you and Aunt Ginevra and the Boltons not being there. No I've always loved that little church, Reverend Anderson was really sweet and his wife was lovely and all the friends we trusted enough to tell supported us. It was a wonderful day"

"The photos I've seen certainly are lovely you can really see how much you love each other."

"Yeah Mrs Anderson did a great job with them. She's a really nice lady, you would like her" Gabriella agreed. "Are you ready to come and look at the rest?"

"I'll see you back there in a minute" Maria answered heading to the bathroom to wash her face.

Gabriella returned to the others, smiling in response to Lucille's enquiring face. Maria joined them and they started back at the beginning of the album with Gabriella explaining to Rebecca and Evelyn who each of their friends were and the stories behind each of the photos.

"Before you go back downstairs Dave wanted me to ask you to play along with his prank on Jack" Rebecca said.

"What do we have to do now?" Lucille asked tiredly.

"Nothing big like our prank. Just pretend you don't notice anything wrong with the Christmas tree tomorrow" Rebecca explained encouragingly.

"What do you mean?" asked Maria.

"Dave's going to come down during the night and hang the tree upside down from a hook in the ceiling. He wants us all to pretend that we don't notice the change"

"How will he stop the decorations from falling off?" asked Gabriella giggling.

"That's already taken care of; we tied them onto the tree with fishing line when we decorated it" Rebecca told her smiling.

"That would have taken ages" Maria said amused, she'd tried it with their small plastic tree one year when they were going to move towards the end of December so she wouldn't have to pack up and then redecorate the tree. The Bolton's tree was a huge seven foot real pine tree with masses of decorations.

Rebecca nodded sighing "It did. That's why the tree was already decorated when you got here it took hours. But looking on the bright side it's the first time since we got married that Dave had been interested in decorating the tree."

Rebecca went downstairs to heat the rolls and dish up the soup.

Gabriella noticed Lucille frowning at her back as she left. "What's the matter?" she asked her mother in law worriedly.

"I don't think this is Dave's real prank. It sounds too simple. More likely it's a distraction to have us all off guard so he can catch us all with his actual prank" Lucille explained.

Evelyn sighed agreeing "You're probably right we'll have to keep our eyes open. Do you have any idea what Jack's planning?"

"I don't know what he's doing but I know he's going to do but I do know it has something to do with the car and he says it won't happen before tomorrow" Lucille said.

"Well that makes sense we're not using the cars today" Maria reminded them. They were all staying home out of sight until it was too late for them to be found in time to be sent to Cuba for the wedding.

A/N: thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Lunch was delicious and Maria and Gabriella offered to clean up afterwards while the Jim, Jack and Dave headed back to the TV. Troy headed outside to shoot some hoops too restless to sit still all day.

He looked up when he heard footsteps approach expecting to see Gabriella or his mother but was surprised that it was his aunt.

"Hi Aunt Becky, wanna play?" he asked cheekily.

"No thanks Troy. It's been a while since this old court was used" she replied laughing.

"What brings you out here to talk to me?" Troy said suddenly serious. "Is something wrong? Has some one upset Gabriella?"

"No Troy she's fine. She mentioned something about a homework assignment" His aunt tried to reassure him.

Troy nodded confused, he knew Gabriella didn't have any outstanding homework, even her correspondence courses were up to date.

"I came out to tell you about Dave's prank, but you have to promise you won't warn your father" Rebecca said quietly looking over her shoulder to check they were alone.

"Okay" Troy agreed.

"No I need a real promise Troy" she said staring him in the face.

"I promise I won't tell dad about any pranks" he said deadpan.

"Good. Now what I need you to do tomorrow is pretend not to notice that the Christmas tree has moved." His aunt began.

"Huh?" Troy was confused.

"Dave couldn't do it today because you went to bed before he could catch you. He's going to move the Christmas tree tonight and everyone is going to deny that it is different" Rebecca explained.

"Doesn't sound like much of a prank" Troy said doubtfully. "What if Dad doesn't notice?"

"Dave's going to hang it upside down from the ceiling, trust me your father will notice" she said dryly.

Troy laughed "and everyone is going to pretend that it's completely normal?"

"That's the idea" Rebecca confirmed

"It's a good prank but..."

"I know it is pretty harmless compared to other years. I think his mother's reaction when she realised that his prank had ruined her favourite dress last year scared him more than he'd like to admit." His aunt said conspiratorially.

Troy winced remembering the incident. "He isn't the only one" he admitted.

Rebecca laughed "yes it was a frightening sight" she said returning to the house.

Troy returned to the house and went to change. Gabriella looked up from her book to find him stripping his damp clothes and picked up the Calamine lotion. "Do you want some help" she said holding up the bottle.

"You're a lifesaver" he said. "But you know that you don't need to apply it, you're busy"

"I feel somewhat responsible I did shave it in the first place" she said applying the lotion gently.

"That wasn't your fault you couldn't renege on the dare" Troy argued.

"What would they have done if I refused?" she asked curiously.

"They couldn't have done anything but you would never be invited to play again" Troy said quietly. Gabriella knew that Troy would rather go through the discomfort he was feeling than have his cousins refuse to include her like that.

"Is is starting to feel better?" she asked.

"Yes a bit. You were right though I never want to do it again?" Troy admitted smiling ruefully.

"Not even if I asked you to" Gabriella said deliberately fluttering her eyelashes in an overly exaggerated way to make him laugh.

"If you really wanted me to I would consider it but only if we could be naked for the next four or five days" Troy retorted.

Gabriella laughed "I don't think so"

"Are you okay" Troy asked changing the subject. "Why are you holed up in here on your own?"

Gabriella blushed, "I felt a bit crampy and decided to come and curl up" she admitted.

"Do you want a hot water bottle?" Troy asked knowing that she used one at home.

"There's one in my suitcase" Gabriella said gratefully.

Troy found the bottle and went to go and fill it.

"Troy stop" Gabriella yelled as he was about to open the door.

He looked at her concerned. "Put some pants on before you go" she reminded him.

He returned with the hot water bottle and handed it to Gabriella who sighed in relief as the warmth relaxed her cramping muscles.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked.

"Only if you want, I'm quite happy with my book. Did Rebecca catch you?" Gabriella asked.

"To tell me about the Christmas tree" Troy nodded.

"Your mom and Grandma think this might just be a distraction so keep your eyes open for something else" Gabriella warned him.

"It does seem a bit too tame, but when I said that to Aunt Becky she said that he deliberately toned it down after his prank wrecked Grandma's favourite dress last year. Grandma threatened to put him over her knee she was so mad."

"Lucille said your dad's prank would probably be tomorrow too, and that it's something to do with the cars." Gabriella told him.

Troy sighed "Welcome to my crazy family Gabriella" he said only half joking.

Gabriella laughed "I think I will survive it" she said returning to her book.

Troy stood there indecisively for a moment then gathering his school books, stripped off his clothes and joined her on the bed to read.

"You really don't have to stay with me Troy. Go watch Basketball with your dad"

"I will if you don't want me here, but I'm happy to stay. I need to get this read anyhow" Troy reassured her.

Gabriella smiled and moved across to rest her head in his lap.

Lucille tapped hesitantly on Troy and Gabriella's bedroom door a few hours later. "Troy, Gabriella she called softly not wanting to disturb them.

Troy checked that he was covered up. "Come in Mama" he answered immediately reassuring Lucille that she wasn't interrupting anything.

He looked up from his book with a smile as his mother poked her head around the door.

Lucille smiled at the picture the two of them made Troy reading while Gabriella slept with her head on his chest.

"Is Gabriella okay?" Lucille asked concerned.

Troy nodded "She didn't sleep very well at Aunt Denise and Uncle Robert's and she's a little under the weather, nothing serious" he replied.

"Dinner's almost ready"

"We will be there soon" Troy promised his mother making no attempt to wake Gabriella.

"Don't tell me you're not hungry?" Lucille raised an eyebrow in question and Troy blushed.

Seeing the blush and truly noticing for the first time that his shoulders were bare and Gabriella was completely covered by the blanket from the neck down Lucille also blushed and said "I'll see you there then" before leaving closing the door behind her.

Jack also on his way to check on Troy and Gabriella saw her blushing as she left the room and leant on the wall banging the back of her head.

"Did you walk in on something you shouldn't have?" he teased his wife.

Her blush deepened. "No I waited until I was invited in" she replied. "I'm not totally naive."

"Then what's got you blushing?" Jack asked amused.

Lucille refused to answer.

"If he let you in it can't have been too bad. What were they doing?" Jack asked curiously.

"Troy was reading and Gabriella's asleep on his chest" Lucille explained.

Jack looked confused "Then what's the problem? What on earth was he reading?"

Lucille looked surprised, "I don't remember something for class next semester"

Jack just looked at her.

"It wasn't what he was reading it was what they were wearing" she muttered.

"Which was?" Jack questioned.

"Just a blanket"

Jack howled with laughter earning him an angry glare from his wife. It took him several minutes to calm down enough to answer her. "You're wrong" he managed to gasp.

"What do you mean I'm wrong I saw it"

"You saw Gabriella naked?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"She was all bundled up in the blanket" Lucille answered crossly, explaining what exactly she'd seen.

"So all you can really tell me is that Troy didn't have a shirt on" Jack said sorting out his wife's description.

"There is no way Troy would have let you into the room if Gabriella was nude" he stated.

Lucille was relieved by Jack's certainty though she didn't understand the rationale.

Troy and Gabriella did eventually join the others for dinner.

"Did you have a nice lazy afternoon in bed?" Dave asked smirking.

Gabriella blushed and hid her face in her hands. Troy frowned and wrapped his arms around her. "Leave Gabriella alone" he said fiercely.

"You will apologise to Troy and Gabriella right now David Michael Bolton. That was uncalled for." Evelyn told him severely.

If Troy hadn't been so angry he would have found the sight of his Uncle being scolded like a little boy and his reaction to it amusing.

Dave turned white then red. "I'm sorry Troy. I'm sorry Gabriella I was out of line. I'm sorry mom" he said quickly.

Evelyn relaxed her expression only slightly "Thankyou David" she said graciously.

"So what do you all want to do tomorrow? I thought you might like to do up to one of the resorts and do some skiing." Rebecca changed the subject.

"Skiing sounds fun. What about you Troy ready to hit the slopes" Jack said enthusiastically.

Surprisingly Troy just shrugged indifferently. It was not that he didn't love snowboarding but that he didn't think that Gabriella would want to go.

"I think it's a good idea" Lucille supported her sister-in-law. "It will do us all good to get out in the fresh air and get some exercise."

This made Troy laugh, "You could always come running with me if you want the exercise Mama" he teased, knowing she would never take him up on the offer. His father had confided in him that Lucille hated running preferring her yoga and Pilates classes to keep fit.

Lucille slapped Troy lightly. "A day skiing will be fun"

"Yes Mama" he grinned cheekily.

Troy noticed that Maria didn't join in with the other's laughter. So he caught up with her as they left the table. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Tomorrow is the 28th" Maria said quietly.

Gabriella shuddered "I don't want to think about it. Maybe we should stay inside one more day."

Maria shook her head. "It's okay Gabi. Even if he finds us tomorrow it will be too late to get to Cuba in time for the wedding. It would take 7 hours to flying time from here to Sierra Maestra and another half an hour to drive from there to Campechuela, not counting the fact that they are two hours ahead of us. The wedding was to be at midday, they would need to have us and a charter plane ready at the airport no later than 4.30 tomorrow morning, and even that would leave us no time to change clothing and freshen up once we get there. I would expect that if he does have people looking for us the search will be called off at midnight. We are safe here." Maria tried to reassure her daughter.

Troy hugged her tightly "I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe with me" he promised.

Gabriella returned the hug "You make me feel safe" she agreed.

"We need to stop hiding" Maria said firmly "and skiing seems like just the way to stop doing it."

'No doubt you're right Mom but I don't think I'm going to enjoy it' Gabriella thought to herself.

Troy went and filled the hot water bottle without being asked while Gabriella got ready for bed. When he returned Gabriella completing the now familiar ritual of applying the Calamine lotion.

"How are you going to go wearing ski pants all day tomorrow?" she asked.

Troy groaned thinking of his tight waterproof ski pants. He hadn't quite grown enough to need to replace last year's ski clothes but they were considerably tighter than he would have liked, particularly in this circumstance. "I'll manage" he said unenthusiastically.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm fine Troy"

Troy lay down and started doing sit ups before rolling over and completing his daily pushups making the bedsprings squeal in protest. He got up and snuck out for a quick shower before reapplying the Calamine lotion himself and joining an already half asleep Gabriella in bed.

Gabriella automatically rolled over and entwined herself around him, a little surprised how quickly she'd become comfortable with Troy being naked in bed with her. She'd been aware of his erection nestled into her bum most mornings before she'd kicked him out to go running, and had to admit (even if only to herself) that she'd enjoyed the sensation.

A/N: The good news is I have about another 30,000 words written for this story, the bad news is that there are only 5 or 6 completely written chapters before I run into a gap before the next set of chapters. I have ideas to fill the gap and am writting as quickly as I can but it will only be about a week until I do not have a chapter to post. So I'm asking for opinions. Do you want me to keep writting to fill he gap or jump forwards to the next section I have written where Gabriella and Troy meet Alejandro. And if you don't want me to jump forwards do you want me to keep posting every day as long as I can or move to every second or third day in the hope I can fill the gap before I run out of chapters to post.

Thankyou to iminlove13, wildcats2016, and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

December 28 Saturday

Eduardo's Planned Wedding day

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: It doesn't snow where I live so I apologise if the part about getting the car ready is wrong. I have also never been to America, all of my information about this area comes from movies and google, so I apologise if I offend anyone who lives there.

Troy was first up again the next day. He ducked his head into the lounge to check out the upside down tree and get his laughter and curiosity out of the way so he could ignore it in front of his father. He was glad he did because it looked very odd. He got out his phone and took a picture of it to show Gabriella so she could be prepared also.

He then went and banged on Jack and Dave's doors to drag them out to run, grinning because he knew that Dave had been up for quite a while during the night to set up his prank and probably didn't want to be woken up this early. Troy was right Dave definitely didn't feel like he'd had anywhere near enough sleep but because he didn't want to risk missing seeing Jack's face the first time he walked into the lounge he agreed to get up and run with Troy and Jack.

Jack groaned internally when he saw Dave join them. He'd been waking his Uncle just to annoy him knowing that he really shouldn't run since he hurt his knee. Dave was both very competitive and very stubborn. He would refuse to admit defeat with anything and would likely hurt his leg trying to keep up with Troy and Jack. Worse still if they tried to take it slowly for his sake he would be insulted.

"Just a short run this morning then if we're hitting the slopes today" he suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea. Which way do you want to head out?" Jack agreed.

"Whichever way is flattest seeing we will be on the slopes for the rest of the day" Troy looked at his uncle for directions.

Dave looked at his suspiciously, then thinking for a moment decided that it probably was a sensible suggestion in general and not done out of pity for the crippled uncle.

"Up the street and then left at the next corner" he pointed.

"Never been that way, we'll follow you" Jack said trying to let his brother set a pace that he could run comfortably at. It didn't entirely work; Dave gave Jack a glare and set off at nearly the pace Jack and Troy would have run if they were on their own.

They ran around the park and headed back towards the house Jack and Troy both doing their best to hide the fact that they were barely winded. Dave had slowed considerably soon after setting out and was now running with a noticeable limp.

They entered the house and Troy in front headed straight for the shower not needing to stretch and cool down as he'd barely got warmed up. Jack pretended to grumble about inconsiderate teenagers as he went through his warm down and stretching routine with Dave though truth be told he didn't really need to either, Dave however did or he would be stiff and sore all day and Jack knew that he wouldn't do it on his own.

Stretches finished Dave led Jack through the lounge into the kitchen to start the coffee. He pretended not to notice Jack's double take at the sight of the Christmas tree now hanging from the ceiling knowing the movement sensor camera he'd installed would capture Jack's expressions. Jack paused just inside the lounge room door automatically looking for traps like he did whenever he was with his practical joker of a brother. He saw the Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling still with all its decorations intact and stared in surprise. How on earth did Dave manage to do that overnight without waking him? He thought for a minute trying to work it out. There was no way anyone could do it on their own, all the decorations should have fallen off which means that Rebecca was in on it to tie on each one when she decorated the tree, and he would have needed more help than Rebecca could provide to lift it up and turn it over which probably meant Jim and Evelyn, or possibly Troy helped last night. Jack sighed that could mean they were all in on it, and this was too simple to be Dave's main prank even if it had taken a huge amount of time to get done. He decided not to mention it and followed Dave through to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of the now brewed coffee.

Dave was disappointed when Jack didn't say anything about the Christmas tree. The joke would fall flat if Jack didn't notice or chose to pretend he hadn't. Dave had been desperately trying to think of a more elaborate prank since Jack had called to ask about including Troy's 'wife' and 'mother-in-law' in their visit.

He was seriously hindered with his prank choices by the promise he'd been forced to make to his mother the previous year that there would be absolutely no possibility that she or any of her possessions would be in any way harmed by this year's prank. He knew he should consider himself lucky that she hadn't forced him into a permanent promise. He wondered for a moment whether his mom and dad were in on Jack's prank to pretend Troy had got married and introduce the family to Troy's fake wife and mother-in-law. Part of him hoped they didn't know it was all a prank because he would enjoy seeing the scolding Jack would get over this. But as time went by and he could see his mom getting more and more attached to Gabriella and Maria he started to worry that she would be hurt when the prank was revealed.

Troy finished his shower and returned to his room to dress. Gabriella woke as he was sorting through his bags looking for clean clothes and his ski things for later in the day.

"Good Morning Gorgeous" she said huskily admiring his ass as he bent over the bags.

Troy whipped around in surprise, smiling when he saw Gabriella watching him. "You're the one who's gorgeous" he protested.

Gabriella smiled "Every single girl at East High would dispute that, especially if they could see you now"

Troy looked down at himself self consciously. The hair Gabriella had shaved off was beginning to grow back and looked even more ugly in his opinion than when she'd first done it.

"I wasn't actually referring just to that, I meant your body as a whole, your skin, the way your muscles move, everything" she said reaching for the Calamine Lotion. "Come lie down and I'll put it on" she offered.

Troy eagerly jumped onto the bed making Gabriella wince as the ancient springs protested loudly. He laughed at her expression and putting his feet against the footboard started pushing against it rhythmically.

"Stop that Troy" Gabriella said almost crossly. "Lie still so I can do this"

She kissed the reddest spots tenderly then gently applied the lotion.

"You know it's almost worth all the itching to have you do that a couple of times a day" Troy commented.

Gabriella laughed "I'll get the razor and shave it again then shall I?" she asked challengingly.

Troy gulped "If you want to" he replied hoping she'd been bluffing.

Gabriella looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment, glancing down at the calamine covered genitals and then back at his eyes watching her. She smiled "you really mean that don't you?" she asked.

Troy nodded "Yeah if you really want me to keep them like this, and you agree to keep helping me with the lotion then I would learn to put up with the itching."

"That means a lot more now you know what the regrowth feels like than it did a few days ago, but no I'll be glad when it's fully grown back. I hate seeing you in pain because of something I did even if I didn't have a choice" she said seriously, then smiled. "Besides I don't much like the taste of shaving cream and calamine lotion."

Troy gave a shout of laughter and rolling over pressed her down into the bed and kissed her passionately.

Jack's suspicions had been confirmed when the rest of the family passed through the lounge without appearing to notice the Christmas tree. Whatever was going on they were all in on it.

Troy, Gabriella and Maria felt relieved when the day Gabriella would have been forced to marry Eduardo finally arrived without Eduardo or Alejandro finding them. It was too late now for the wedding to take place as scheduled even if they had been located, and the search for them would probably have been scaled down. To celebrate this fact Jack, Lucille, Dave Rebecca and Maria had all chosen to spend the day skiing. They insisted that Troy and Gabriella joined them, Maria still not wanting to let her daughter out of her sight. It was the first time Gabriella and Maria had been out in public without worrying about being kidnapped and delivered to Cuba since they hadn't boarded the plane as scheduled and they hadn't realised how trapped they had felt.

A/N: You all seem pretty evenly divided between jump ahead, fill the gap, and do what's easiest for me. Writting is going well at the moment so I'm going to try to fill the gap unless I get stuck.

Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, iminlove13, Wildcats2016 JesselyricsR5 and Siobhan for your support.


	82. Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They all piled into Dave's big SUV he used for work. Dave had defrosted the windows earlier and had plugged in and cranked up the heater but it was still snowing lightly so he turned on the windscreen wipers as he got in the car. Unfortunately this is where Jack's prank kicked in and got him. Jack had stuck oil pastel crayons to the wiper blades and as they cleared off the snow they left a bright rainbow arc of colour over the window. Seeing this Dave started to swear, Jack and Troy burst out laughing, Gabriella giggled, and Maria and Lucille chuckled a little as they shook their heads and went back inside until the windscreen had been cleaned. Jack spent a little too much time admiring and photographing his handiwork and didn't manage to get into the house quick enough. Dave retaliated by soaking him with the bucket of soapy water he'd brought out to wash the windscreen.

It took nearly half an hour of serious scrubbing for Dave to get the oil crayons of the windscreen and the wipers well enough that it didn't happen again when they were turned on. Eventually they all came back out and set off for the ski resort.

Gabriella didn't feel up to skiing or snowboarding, she would have preferred to spend the day curled up on the couch at the Bolton's watching movies. Staying in the resort by the open fire was the next best option though she didn't really want to be on her own in such a public place.

Jack was astonished when Troy declined to hire skis or a snowboard electing to spend the day indoors with Gabriella. He drew Troy aside "What's wrong Troy you love snowboarding?"

Troy shrugged "Gabriella's not feeling the best and I don't want to leave her here alone in a strange place especially today. We'll just spend the day quietly, I might go out for a bit after lunch" he added knowing that his mother and Rebecca would probably be glad to sit with Gabriella while he went out then.

"Please tell me she's not pregnant?" Jack begged his son.

"No Dad! Of course not." Troy said calmly.

"Are you sure of that?" Jack questioned staring Troy in the eyes.

"Very Sure" Troy said dryly rolling his eyes at his overly suspicious father.

Dave seeing Troy choose not to ski and not having heard the quiet conversation between father and son teased "You should have cooled down and stretched properly after our run this morning Troy. Now you're going to miss out on the fun." To be honest joining Troy and Gabriella definitely appealed to him as well but he didn't want to let Rebecca know he had overdone it that morning.

Troy and Gabriella sat on the couch beside the windows looking out at the snow, drinking hot chocolate. Gabriella looked up enquiringly as Troy chuckled to himself.

"I was remembering the first time we drank hot chocolate together in the snow. How nervous I was. You'd sung like an angel and I really wanted you to like me. I'd never felt like that before" Troy confessed.

"I did like you. I just didn't know what I should do. I was nervous too. This really cute guy wanted to talk to me, and I had no idea what to say or what he expected from me" Gabriella said also smiling at the memory.

"I didn't know what to expect either, but I had a great time singing with you it was the best part of the whole holiday. I tried to tell you that but you'd left already."

"I had a great time that night too, then when I couldn't find you at the lodge next day I thought I'd never see you again. I was surprised how disappointed I was about it, I knew that rationally you'd probably never call me and even if you did it would only be a couple of times I never even considered that you might live in Albuquerque."

"I wanted to call I just didn't know what to say. I'd never been interested in trying to talk to girls. I would have called to try and meet up the next day if we hadn't had to leave suddenly, but after we'd gone it was more difficult to find an excuse to call you. I was really excited when I saw you at school and realized that I had another chance to get to know you."

Gabriella admitted "I'm glad you called me that day, even if you did get me the first detention of my life. I would never have had the courage to pursue a friendship with you if I'd found out how popular you were before we'd spoken to each other"

Troy looked up at her in surprise "That never meant anything to me" he said astonished.

"Yeah, I know that now but Troy I was the girl who changed schools so often it was barely worth making friends, especially among the popular kids who already had lots of friends. It was easier to be nice to the other nerds and hope they'd put up with me hanging around."

Troy gave her a hug. "It's scary when you put it like that how easily we would have never met or become friends, but part of me doesn't believe it could have happened that way. We were made to be together. You complete me like nobody else ever could. I am a better person because of you and from the description of your life before you came to Albuquerque you're a stronger person too. I am so glad that we met that night before you moved to East High" he said kissing her softly.

"I am too" Gabriella smiled at him returning his kiss.

They sat quietly cuddling and kissing lightly every now and again mindful that they were in a public place.

"When do you think Jack and Dave will catch on about the prank?" Gabriella asked tired of the subterfuge.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Dad already knows about it, he was suspicious a couple of days ago when Grandma didn't seem to know about our marriage and none of us reminded her about it." Troy replied, he wouldn't have said anything in front of Uncle Dave in case it was somehow part of one of his pranks but I expect he confronted Mum later and is now in on the whole thing" Troy said chuckling.

Gabriella grinned then asked "And what about your Uncle Dave?"

"I don't think he knows. He was still giving me a hard time while we were waiting for everyone to come out to the cars this morning" Troy said offhandedly.

"What do you mean a hard time?" Gabriella asked concerned.

"Just teasing" Troy reassured his wife, "he wanted to know what I was blackmailing mum and dad with to get them to agree to let you come on holiday with us and to make them let us sleep together."

"What did you tell him?"

"I said it was less traumatic for them to give us our own room than to constantly worry about walking in on us in the act elsewhere" Troy said cheekily.

"Troy!"

"Well it's kinda true and I had to tell him something" Troy defended

"You'll make him think I'm a complete slut, insinuating that I'd be willing to be walked in on like that." She protested.

"I'm sorry Gabriella. I never thought of it like that" Troy apologised. "You know that I don't think of you like that and Mom and Dad don't either."

"Yeah but your uncle Dave and Aunt Rebecca haven't met me before. I don't want to give them that impression."

"Has he said anything to you" Troy growled

"No, between you and Lucille and Rebecca I've not been alone with him at all. I overheard him making innuendos to your Dad but Coach told him off. I don't think either of them realized that I'd heard them."

"Were you hurt by what he said? I would call the prank off right now rather than let him hurt you, you know that right?" Troy asked anxiously.

Gabriella smiled reassuringly, "No I wasn't hurt. I was pleased to hear your Dad stand up for me like that."

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	83. Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Dave returned first after about 90 minutes skiing he'd managed to convince his wife and Jack to move from the intermediate run they were on to the advanced then as soon as she was out of sight admitted that his knee could use some rest and returned to the resort. He chose not to join Troy and Gabriella who hadn't seen him come in, but to sit in the corner where he could stretch his leg out on a sofa and massage the knee in private.

Maria and Lucille soon decided they were also ready for a break. Entering the lounge area they could see both the young couple snuggled up near the windows and Dave in the corner. Dave's expression of pain worried them but the way he was deliberately sitting to avoid notice convinced them to join Troy and Gabriella instead.

"Did you two enjoy your lazy morning?" Lucille asked laughing.

"Sure did. Did you enjoy falling down the mountain?" Troy shot back.

"I did very well thank you very much" his mother protested indignantly.

"Unfortunately that was a fair description of my morning" added Maria ruefully.

"Are you alright Mom?" asked Gabriella concerned. She knew that her mom was not a very good skier.

"No serious injuries but I'm going to be a little stiff and sore for a few days I'd forgotten how many muscles skiing works that apparently my normal exercise routine misses. I'll be glad to sit here with you this afternoon" Maria said lightly.

Gabriella smiled "That's great maybe we can talk Troy into spending some time on the slopes seeing I won't be alone."

"Maybe" Troy shrugged, "you know I don't mind staying here with you"

"It seems a pity to waste the opportunity to go snowboarding though. You normally love it" Lucille encouraged her son. "I'll be happy to stay with Maria and Gabriella if that will make you feel better about leaving them."

The subject was dropped for the time being as Rebecca and Jack entered the room arguing about who had had the best run down the expert slope.

"I'm telling you if that old guy in the orange hadn't cut me off I would have won easily" Rebecca protested.

"Yeah sure" Jack dismissed.

"We go again after lunch and you'll see I'll whip your scrawny ass" Dave had always called him scrawny just as Jack used to call his brother fat and Rebecca had picked up the habit. In truth the two Bolton men had always been nearly the same size though Dave had gained a little weight since he injured his knee.

"Troy you coming out with us after lunch? The snow is perfect, really fast just the way you like it. And I can prove once and for all that skiing is faster than snowboarding" his father challenged.

Troy looked at his mother for confirmation "It is a bit icy for my taste, but it might be good for snowboarding" she encouraged him.

The dining room was almost empty as they headed in to lunch just before the kitchen closed. Jack and Rebecca exchanged worried glances as Dave joined them trying to hide the fact he was limping. He'd clearly overused his knee and risked further injury if he didn't rest it but neither of them had any idea how they could get Dave to admit it.

"Uncle Dave" Troy spoke up as they finished eating. "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Sure Troy what is it?" Dave asked curiously.

"Well I wouldn't mind going out for a bit but I can't leave Gabriella and Maria here unprotected. Will you stay with them and make sure they're okay?" Troy asked hopefully.

"This place is perfectly safe Troy. They are in no danger especially in the hotel" Dave dismissed the idea.

"Yeah I know, but I can't leave them alone" Troy argued.

Dave, sure his nephew was trying to give him an excuse to stay inside out of pity refused. "Seriously Troy it's not necessary, they'll be fine on their own for a couple of hours."

"Never mind" Troy said trying not to sound disappointed "I'll stay myself"

"I've had enough for the day Troy. The three of us will be fine" Lucille tried to persuade her son to relax.

"We promise to stay inside in full view of the staff, and there is no reason to believe they will find us here" Maria added.

Troy looked at Gabriella who hadn't spoken. "No I'll stay here with you" he declared smiling as he saw the slight easing of tension in her eyes.

Dave watched this silently his mind racing. There was some serious threat then? This would explain how Jack had managed to find someone willing to visit strangers pretending to be Troy's wife over the Christmas break for his prank. They were hiding from someone. Troy's request for him to sit with them had apparently been genuine and might be a good way to get more information. "If you really think it is necessary I'll stay with them" he offered. "You really should spend some time today out on the slopes."

"Thanks Uncle Dave" Troy said. He walked over and had a quiet word with Gabriella.

"Are you sure you're okay with Mom and Uncle Dave if I go out for a bit?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes Troy I'm sure we'll be safe enough. Mom's right there is no reason they'll look for us here even if they are still looking and they probably aren't."

"But will you feel safe with Mom and Uncle Dave" Troy pressed for a real answer.

"Troy I can't spend the rest of my life being afraid to be alone. I'll be fine. I want you to go and have some fun. Dave will protect us from Eduardo or Alejandro's men and Mom and Lucille will protect me from Dave."

"I kind of forgot about that" Troy smiled "it doesn't seem important today"

"No it doesn't, but I still don't want to be the one that gives the prank away" Gabriella replied uncertainly.

"I don't care about that as long as he doesn't say something to hurt you" Troy said protectively.

"He won't hurt me Troy, not when Mom and Lucille are with me" she reassured him. "Go and have some fun without worrying. Are you going to ski or snowboard?"

"Snowboard it's more fun. And Dad can't do it so we don't spend all day trying to race each other"

Gabriella laughed understandingly and kissed him quickly "Have fun" she said pushing him out the door.

"So who are you hiding from?" Dave asked as she sat back on the couch by the window.

"My father" Gabriella replied choosing not to go into details

"What's he look like so I can keep an eye out?" Dave questioned looking around the large lounge area.

"I have no idea" Gabriella said looking at her mother.

"Cuban, dark skin about 5 foot 8inches. I doubt that will help, he won't come himself anyway. He's more likely to send investigators to find us" Maria described emotionlessly.

"And you said you don't think he'll find you but you're still worried. Is he like the Mafia or something?"

"No he runs a very successful legitimate business" Maria said dryly.

"And why are you hiding from him?" he asked curiously.

"He will be very angry with us" Maria said briskly before turning to Lucille and talking about the next leg of their journey.

"You don't know what your father looks like?" Dave asked Gabriella refusing to let the subject drop.

"I don't remember I haven't seen him since I was eight" Gabriella dismissed. "It's beautiful here do you come very often?" she asked changing the subject.

"Once or twice a year with friends. We used to come a lot before I injured my knee"

"What did you do to it?" she asked knowing Troy was worried about what his uncle should and shouldn't be doing.

"Tore my ACL, and damaged the cartilage, they've had a couple of goes at repairing it but I really need a knee replacement."

"Then why don't you have one. Surely it would be better than this" Gabriella asked.

"Not really once my knee is replaced I won't be allowed to run or ski or play any basketball" Dave said sighing.

"But you can't do any of these things now without hurting yourself" Gabriella said confused.

"Knee replacements are for old people I'm only 43" Dave said with slight bitterness. It was hard sitting here while his wife was out enjoying herself with his younger brother.

"What do you mean they're only for old people?" Gabriella said wanting to know if it was just Dave's pride preventing him from having the operation.

"If I get my knee replaced now it'll last maybe 15 years, replacing it a second time doesn't always work out so well"

"So you're trying to put off the first surgery in order to put off the second. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense you're in pain now and 15 years is a long time they might find a better way to replace it again before you need to worry about it. Besides the longer you put it off the harder it will be to build up your fitness again afterwards."

Dave decided to change the subject.

"So tell me how you and Troy met" he asked wondering if her story would match up with Troy's.

"We met at a New Year's Eve party at a ski resort last year." Gabriella said smiling.

"Love at first sight" Dave asked suggestively.

"Not like that" Gabriella said shocked. "We were forced to sing karaoke together and then talked for a bit. Then mom got transferred to Albuquerque and Troy was in my homeroom. I couldn't believe it. He showed me around the school and we became friends and auditioned for the school musical together. He asked me out two weeks later and we've been together since."

"Jack wouldn't have liked that" Dave commented remembering how annoyed his brother had been with Troy at the time."

Gabriella shrugged "No he didn't at first. He's better about it now" she said confidently.

"So you going to make a great uncle out of me any time soon?" he hinted.

"Not planning on it" Gabriella shot back in reply "Besides you said yourself you're not old enough" she joked.

"Neither am I!" Maria interrupted "I don't want to be a grandmother anytime soon young lady" she said to her daughter.

"I second that. I'm nowhere near old enough to be a grandmother." Lucille added laughing.

"Don't worry. We both want to finish college before we think about having kids" Gabriella reassured them laughing.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13, Siobhan, FlovesHSM and Sprinklz76 for your support.


	84. Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy had quickly reaccustomed himself to snowboarding and was now racing his father and Aunt Rebecca down the intermediate slopes. He was losing but that didn't matter just the adrenalin rush from being out in the fresh air moving as fast as he could possibly go was enough. We was glad that his Mom Maria and Uncle Dave had stayed with Gabriella so that he could get out, though he would willingly have stayed inside all day if that's what Gabriella needed to feel safe.

"Skiing is faster" his father greeted him as he reached the bottom where Jack and Rebecca were waiting,

Troy shrugged "Yeah but snowboarding's more fun"

"And more dangerous" his father pointed out "Take it easy Troy"

"Hey! You were the one that wanted to race" Troy protested.

Rebecca laughed at the two of them. "Enough of these beginner slopes I'm ready to move on to something more challenging" she said.

"Go ahead. I'm happy with this level" said Troy.

"Do you mind if I go too" Jack asked his son.

"Sure Dad I can't keep up with you on this anyway" Troy said smiling. He was hoping his father would go, snowboarding wasn't competitive for Troy he just wanted to relax and enjoy the thrill of the ride. Unfortunately every sport was competitive with his father.

It was nearly dark by the time they all met up back in the lounge and started talking about plans for dinner. Troy who'd been first back and was now curled up in an armchair with Gabriella spoke in favour of returning home with takeaway pizza. Rebecca and Jack who'd had a long day out on the slopes were also looking forward to d getting home and into a hot bath. In the end they all agreed and Dave rang the restaurant to cancel the booking he'd already made and placed a takeaway order for two hours time instead. They piled into the car for the trip home quietly, Dave concentrating on the road and the others enjoying the views as they drove down the mountain.

A bit of a squabble broke out over the showers as they drove up the road in front of Dave and Rebecca's, until Rebecca reminded them that she had turned on the heating for the hot tub installed off the back porch. The hot tub would easily accommodate the seven of them and the adults all enthusiastically went to grab their bathing suits.

"I didn't pack a swim suit Troy" Gabriella said worriedly.

Troy grinned and pulled both their swimsuits out of his bag "You can pretend you didn't pack one if you don't feel comfortable with them Gabi. Or we could wait and use the hot tub later after dinner or after they've gone to bed" he offered giving her a choice.

Troy started to strip off his ski gear and the thermal pants he'd had on underneath. "To be honest I think I'd almost prefer to shower now and head to bed than to put on clothes again" he said gesturing to his groin area.

"You spent all afternoon out snowboarding Troy and I know you, you would have gone at it full on the whole time. You really need to relax your muscles or you'll be stiff tomorrow and the day after when we'll be in the car all day."

"It won't be that bad it's only thirteen and a half hours to Tucson if we get a good run and we're stopping overnight on the way."

"Why aren't we going straight there? I know it's a long way but divided between three drivers it wouldn't have been that bad. Or did your parents change the plan once they knew we'd be coming?"

Troy shook his head "We drove straight through last time we went from Uncle Dave's to Robert and Sandra's two years ago and Mom and Dad declared they'd never do it again. It is too far at this time of year, the sun won't rise here until almost eight o'clock so the road's icy until at least ten and there's the possibility we will get heavy snowfalls tonight and might have to wait for the road to be cleared. We were lucky coming from Billings." Troy explained.

"Get you suit on Troy and wait for me outside for a moment, we're going in the hot tub" Gabriella said determinedly, taking off her extra layers of clothing.

Lucille and Maria had opted for a hot shower so it was only Dave Rebecca and Jack in the hot tub when Troy and Gabriella arrived. Gabriella was glad that Troy had chosen the swimsuit and swim shorts she used to work at Lava Springs rather than the bikini her mother had insisted she purchase when they were shopping with Alejandro's credit card.

Gabriella quickly climbed in and sank down until the bubbling water reached her neck. Troy climbed in nest to her and pulled her tightly to his side.

"Oh god this feels great" he moaned, causing Gabriella to blush.

Jack looked away trying to ignore both moan and blush. "A little stiff there Troy?" he teased secretly glad that he wasn't the only one suffering from too much exercise.

"Not really just nice to get in the warmth" Troy replied "I went at it pretty hard all afternoon"

"You should have come out in the morning as well, Gabriella would have been fine on her own if she didn't want to ski" Rebecca scolded.

Troy shrugged "I didn't want to leave her, besides we had a great time this morning curled up watching the snow fall enjoying the open fire" he said smiling down at his wife who was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Enough already, we get the picture" his father stated loudly.

Troy looked up and realised that Jack and Dave had brought the bourbon to their little hot tub party and that the heat of the water combined with a couple of quick shots were beginning to have an effect.

"I think you ought to lay off there, Dad. We've got a long day driving in the snow tomorrow" Troy tried to warn him.

Jack frowned but nodded refusing the next refill. Dave however kept filling his and his wife's glasses. As his Aunt Rebecca got louder gigglier and began to get more crude Troy made his excuses and pulling Gabriella to her feet left the adults to their fun.

"Yes time to get a room" Dave leered at Troy.

"It's not like we won't hear what you're up to with that bed" Rebecca remarked.

Jack put his hands over his ears and started repeating loudly "Too much information, too much information, too much information."

Troy and Gabriella blushed scarlet and quickly moved inside out of earshot.

"I can't believe you let Troy carry on like that" Dave said to his brother.

"I've got more sense than to try to come between Troy and his wife" Jack defended.

"Wife" Dave said drawing out the word in a disbelieving tone of voice. "Time for the truth brother you leave first thing in the morning. 'fess up who is she really?" he asked sure that he'd reluctantly be told the truth and congratulated for not falling for the prank.

Jack looked at his brother in shock "Gabriella is Troy's wife, they got married a couple of weeks ago"

"Yeah sure Jack. Whatever you say. You're going to have to come clean eventually"

"I told you about the marriage when we first rang to see if we could include Gabriella and Maria in our visit. Troy bloody well eloped with the girl" Jack said sounding slightly angry. Rebecca wasn't sure if the frustration was directed at Dave for refusing to believe him or at Troy and Gabriella for getting married in the first place.

"Are you okay Jack? Gabriella seems like a lovely girl but it must have been a terrible shock" Rebecca asked.

Jack shrugged never one to easily put feelings into words. "She makes him happier than he's ever been. But I would have preferred that they waited until they finished college."

"Why on earth are you talking like their marriage is real?" Dave said drunkenly. "It's not real."

"I'm afraid you're wrong" Rebecca said hesitantly "Troy and Gabriella really are married. Lucille even has photos"

"Why'd you let Troy do a fool thing like that?" Dave asked his brother surprised.

"I didn't find out about the wedding in time to try to stop it." Jack said dryly

"Would you have tried to stop it though once you knew the whole story?" Rebecca pressed hoping for the acceptance Lucille showed when talking about the marriage.

Jack shrugged "Yeah I probably would still have tried to stop it. It took a couple of days for the whole story to sink in. Glad it was too late to do anything by the time I found out though Troy would never have forgiven me if I succeeded in stopping him from marrying Gabriella."

"He really loves her" Rebecca agreed.

"He's very protective of her too. I can't believe he admitted there was almost no risk of them being found at the ski resort but was still willing to sit inside with her all day"

"Does she ski at all?"

"I have no idea but Troy met her at a ski resort so she should" Jack said dryly.

"Then why didn't she go out today"

"Troy said she wasn't feeling well"

"He may have been telling the truth she's spent quite a lot of time in her room. I thought she was just feeling awkward with Dave and Jim teasing her so much" Rebecca said thoughtfully.

"Yeah. It's not like her to do that. She would normally think it rude to isolate herself like she has." Jack said after thinking back over the last week.

"You don't think it might be morning sickness?" Rebecca asked shocked.

"No Troy assured me it wasn't" Jack dismissed.

"Soon will be the way those two have been going at it" he said referring to the rhythmically shrieking antique bed.

As soon as the noise stopped Jack climbed out of the hot tub "I'm going to bed" he announced. "Troy was right when he said we have a long day tomorrow. Goodnight Dave, Rebecca, don't drown out here" he said jokingly.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5, Kiara, and Siobhan for your support.


	85. Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

December 29th

Troy was right in predicting a slow and frustrating morning travelling. They were all very glad to reach their first rest break at Fillmore. The historic little town was very pretty nestled in the mountains and they quickly found a park to picnic in.

"There's some nice walks around here, Grandpa Jim brought us here to fish when I was eleven. We camped out and had a great time" Troy said sighing a little as he realised how much older his grandfather seemed now compared to back then.

"We really don't have time to go hiking around the mountain" Lucille reminded her son as she did every time they stopped here.

"Yeah if we make good time today it might be early enough to do some sightseeing in Page when we stop for the night" Troy agreed amiably though he was fidgeting in his seat as he waited for his mother to unpack the food.

"I don't know that I'll feel like doing anything energetic today after skiing yesterday found more muscles than I remembered that I had" Maria admitted smiling. "But you didn't run this morning do you want to go running now?" she asked realising that Troy had had more trouble sitting still this morning than he usually did and understanding what Gabriella had meant when she said Troy needed to run every morning whether he wanted to or not.

"Do we have time?" Troy asked looking towards his parents.

"We can make time if we need to Troy" Jack said knowing that Tory would get increasingly jittery (and annoying) cooped up in the car for the rest of the day.

"Thanks Dad" Troy said kissing his wife on the cheek and stripping off his jacket and putting it around her shoulders before taking off in a fast sprint

"Don't you want to go with him?" Maria asked knowing that Jack enjoyed running with Troy and had missed it while Troy and Gabriella had been staying with her.

"I'd never keep up with him at that pace" Jack said sighing. It wasn't easy for him to admit how much fitter his son was than he was these days but now that Troy wasn't doing half his running to and from Gabriella's in the middle of the night his increased speed and stamina could not be denied.

Troy soon arrived back lightly sweating in spite of the cold. He grabbed his bag out of the back and headed to the public restrooms to wash up.

"Is everyone ready to go?" he asked on his return.

"Everyone except you, you haven't eaten anything" said his mother firmly pushing Troy's share of the sandwiches and cake Rebecca had packed up for them that morning.

Troy wolfed down the sandwiches earning a scolding from his mother about table manners. "Honestly Troy it's just as well everyone else is finished you'd put people off their food eating like that" she said "we're not in that much hurry to leave."

"Sorry Mum, Sorry everyone" Troy said looking down.

"It's fine Troy, did you miss breakfast?" Maria asked more amused than offended.

"Of course not if he'd missed breakfast none of the rest of us would have got any sandwiches" Lucille teased her son.

"Hey" Troy protested.

Gabriella giggled as Troy finished his cake and walked over to his mother's car offering to drive. Gabriella and Maria joined him leaving Lucille to ride with Jack. It was a short drive to their second stop and they made good time pulling up in time for an only slightly late lunch in Panguitch. The scenery during this leg of the trip had been beautiful and again Troy mentioned the great camping, hiking fishing and riding facilities in the area. Again his parents ignored the hint as he expected and they set off again after eating.

Jack offered to let Gabriella drive this section and Troy sat quietly in the back seat to avoid distracting her as she drove towards Page with Maria following with Lucille.

There was still at least a couple of hour's daylight when they arrived at Page Arizona where they were booked to stay the night. Gabriella and Maria had never been there and marvelled at some of the scenery they recognised from films. "I had been sure this was an artificial film set" Maria exclaimed at one point "It just doesn't look real"

Troy laughed "There's some great hiking trails here. We tried a few of them out when I was younger but it's a bit too cold this time of year."

"Not to mention my legs really don't feel enthusiastic about the idea of hiking after yesterday's exertions" Maria reminded him.

Troy convinced Gabriella to take a walk with him. "How are you feeling?" he asked feeling guilty that he'd forced her to exercise when she wasn't feeling well.

"I'm fine Troy the cramping's pretty much over with" Then seeing Troy's eyes light up hastened to clarify "I mean that my period will last another few days but it only hurts for the first day or so."

Troy nodded in understanding "I'm glad you're not in pain anymore" he said not showing any sign of disappointment.

"So do you feel well enough to skate with me?" he asked indicating the booth hiring roller blades at the edge of the park.

"Rollerblading and I aren't friends Troy. I've only tried it a couple of times and I'm hopeless at it"

"I promise not to let you fall"

"You'd spend all of your time holding me up" Gabriella protested "where's the fun in that"

"Holding you is always fun" Troy said running his hands along her sides.

"Don't tickle" she said swatting his hands away. "But it would defeat the purpose of rollerblading" Gabriella argued.

"I just want to spend some time with you, we don't have to rollerblade, what would you like to do?" Gabriella thought for a moment, she knew Troy would agree to walk quietly or sit and talk if that's what she said she wanted to do, but that his body was probably craving exercise. "How about we try that?" she offered pointing to a tandem bicycle leaning up against the side of the booth.

"Troy grinned "Sounds like a plan, but I've never seen you ride a bike" he said questioningly.

"It got left behind a couple of moves ago" she said sighing. "I used to enjoy riding but then we moved to an apartment in New York and Mom thought it wouldn't be safe. She was probably right but I did miss it"

"Mom's got a bike she hasn't used in ages. It's probably got two flat tires but I'm sure she wouldn't mind me fixing it up for you to borrow" Troy offered.

Gabriella smiled "Let's try this one for now and you can ask your mom about it when we get home"

Troy arranged the hire and wheeled the tandem cycle over to Gabriella "Front or back" he offered.

"I don't mind which do you want?"

"Mmm tough choice, do I want to steer or do I want to spend the next hour staring at your ass. I'll take the back" he teased grinning at her and exaggeratedly waggling his eyebrows up and down.

Gabriella blushed before hopping onto the back seat of the bicycle. "On second thoughts you don't get to choose" she said laughing.

Troy laughed and climbed on the front perfectly happy to be the one steering the bike. He started off slowly letting Gabriella reaccustom herself to balancing and pedalling, before choosing a trail and picking up speed.

"Don't go too far Troy. Remember we need to return the bike and walk back to the motel before dark" she cautioned him knowing that his stamina would far exceed her own.

Troy looked back and grinned which did nothing to settle Gabriella's concerned but she realised that if she'd had enough she could just stop pedalling and let Troy do all the work.

Troy did get them back to the hire booth just as the sun fully set and they walked back to the hotel in the dusk, arriving just before it became too dark. Unfortunately it wasn't before their parents had started to worry about where they were.

"Sorry we're late, we hire a bike and it took longer to ride back than I'd planned. I hadn't realised that returning would be slightly uphill" Troy apologised.

"We were just planning to take the cars and drive around looking for you" Lucille scolded mildly.

"Do you have any preferences for dinner?" Jack asked willing to let the subject drop.

"You've stayed here before. Do you know what's good here?" Gabriella asked.

"Well I can definitely recommend we don't eat in the motel's restaurant but other than that no idea." Jack replied.

"What type of food are we talking about, take-away or restaurant?" Troy asked.

"I'm actually in the mood for plain steak and vegetables" Jack stated.

"Yes fresh vegetables would be lovely" agreed Maria, Lucille also nodded.

"We passed a steak house a couple of blocks from here that looked alright" Troy said "It was pretty busy for so early in the evening."

"That's a good sign so long as we can get a table" Lucille said.

A/N: thankyou to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13, Kiara, and Siobhan for your support.


	86. Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

As in Cheyenne they were unable to get a third room so Maria took the room originally booked for Troy. "Where are the two of you going to sleep?" Jack asked Troy and Gabriella.

Troy shrugged "I thought the plan was that I sleep on the single in your room and Gabriella in Maria's room" he said unsure why he was being asked.

"That was the plan in Cheyenne too" Jack reminded his son.

"I'll stay in with you. I don't think Maria would feel comfortable sharing a room with me. Gabriella is welcome to stay with me if she wants and that's okay with you, or with her mom. I don't mind"

Gabriella blushed but did not answer.

Jack looked at Lucille who nodded, they'd seen how difficult it had been for the two young people to be separated while they were at Robert and Denise's. "Gabriella's welcome to share with us if she feels comfortable" he said. "Mind you that single bed's going to be an awfully tight fit for the two of them" he chuckled.

Gabriella elected to share a room with her mother. Troy assured her that he understood. He did, He knew she would be too embarrassed to climb into bed with him with his parents in the room even if they were both fully dressed.

He was then surprised after tossing and turning for several hours after his father started to snore to hear the door open quietly and his wife enter. She kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed. Troy pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear. "Hi there Mrs Bolton. Can't sleep either?"

"I wasn't warm enough to sleep" she said drowsily.

Within moments they were both asleep.

Maria joined Lucille and Jack for coffee next morning. "Troy and Gabriella disappeared to get breakfast again?" she suggested with amusement.

"Oh no! They're both still sound asleep" Lucille said gesturing to their room. "I don't know what time Gabriella came in, but she's definitely there"

"Well at least they're not missing again" Maria laughed. "Should we wake them up?"

"We're only about 7 hours from Tucson and far enough south that the road condition won't be an issue. We can afford to let them sleep a little longer until we work out where to eat at least. Troy won't thank us if we let him sleep through breakfast."

"Doesn't he need to get up to run" Maria asked remembering the previous morning.

Jack sighed "You're right" he said going in to wake up Troy.

Jack shook Troy's shoulder "Wake up son, do you want to run this morning?"

Troy groaned then nodded, "Yeah, we've got a long day in the car. I'd better" he slowly extricated himself from Gabriella's embrace and put on his shoes. "You coming?" he asked his father.

They left at a fairly brisk pace "how far do you want to go?" Troy asked Jack knowing that Jack had a better idea of how much time they had available.

"We've time for a couple of mile" Jack replied.

"This way then" Troy said indicating the route towards the trails he and Gabriella had ridden along the day before.

Gabriella awoke blushing when she realised she really had snuck in to Troy's bed during the night. Glad to find she was alone she grabbed Troy's jacket to put on over her pyjamas and returned to the room she was supposed to be sharing with her mother. She took a leisurely shower enjoying the fact that they weren't in a house full of people needing to share the hot water.

She was surprised when she left the bathroom to find Troy waiting for the shower. "Dad's in ours so Maria said I could borrow your shower" he explained. "They're in the motel dining room; they've ordered breakfast so food should be ready soon." He kissed her quickly and entered the bathroom leaving the door slightly open so Gabriella could come back and do her hair and makeup.

Being a boy Troy was almost ready by the time Gabriella was so she waited while he put his shoes on and they entered the restaurant together.

Piling his plate high Troy remembered his mother's scolding the day before and ate only as quickly as manners allowed.

"Seeing how much you eat Troy I'm worried that I haven't been feeding you enough" Maria commented as he filled his plate for the second time after checking that no one else wanted any more.

"I never went hungry" Troy denied. "I probably don't need all this but if no one else wants it there's no point letting it go to waste"

"The day will come Troy when your metabolism won't let you do that" said his mother warningly.

Jack sighed and nodded in agreement, "Remember we'll be in the car all day, so you won't have much opportunity to work all that off."

"We just ran nearly three mile Dad. Give me a break"

In truth Troy was naturally thin and did need to load up on protein to maintain the muscles he'd worked so hard to get. The problem wasn't the amount he was eating but that restaurant cooked food contained a lot more fat than the same things cooked at home.

Maria still looked concerned "Seriously Troy promise me you were getting enough to eat at home with us"

"Yes Maria I was fine, don't worry Gabriella wouldn't let me go hungry, she says I get too grumpy" Troy answered smiling at his mother in law reassuringly.

When Troy again pointed out the hiking trails and other high energy activities that they could do at each of the days rest stops in Flagstaff and Phoenix, Maria got a clear idea of what it must have been like travelling with a younger Troy. Eighteen year old Troy still exercised almost compulsively, couldn't sit still if he'd missed his morning run and after a tiring day in the car chose to go for a walk or ride. As a young child he must have been almost hyperactive after two or three hours in the car and have needed to burn off steam before they could continue. She asked Lucille "Have you stayed in all these places or did you just need to wear Troy out before you could get him back into the car for the next leg of the journey?"

Lucille laughed ruefully "he wasn't quite that bad, we could have driven through like we are now but it wasn't worth it. The best way was to plan an activity at each rest stop for Troy to look forward to. Then one of us would take him while the other had a break that way we could fill in time on the next leg of the journey asking Troy to tell us about what they'd done"

"It must have taken you ages to get anywhere" Maria said amused.

"Yes but it was that or drive through the night while he slept" Lucille said remembering and telling Maria about previous journeys they'd been on.

"You really spoilt him, you know?" Maria commented.

"Yes but I always felt a bit guilty, it was my fault that we had to drive this far instead of flying, and it was mostly my family and friends we visit since Jack went to U of A and many of his college friends still live relatively close by." Lucille tried to explain. "And it isn't as if he meant to be naughty, he was trying to be good, it used to get to the stage he was even annoying himself and he'd get really upset about it. So it was just easier to plan for longer rest stops to deal with the problem."

They arrived at Rob and Sandra's mid afternoon after an exceptionally hassle free day's driving. Again Jack had encouraged Gabriella to drive one of the sections, this time in Lucille's smaller car because he said she didn't want to get used to having such a big car when what she would need would be something small and economical for driving to university each day.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, iminlove13 and Siobhan for your support.


	87. Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy hadn't really said anything about Rob and Sandra when he'd described the rest of the family so Gabriella and Maria didn't know what to expect. Rob and Sandra seemed far less laid back than Lucille and Jack's families had been. There house looked more like it had been put together by a designer than a genuine family home. Maria looked around appraisingly, a lot of the places they had lived in had had this feel simply because they hadn't lived in the house long enough to make it a home. It was one of the things she'd loved most about their house in Albuquerque, it felt truly lived in.

"This is a beautiful house. Have you lived here long?" she asked Sandra.

"About four or five years" Rob answered.

"Now I've put you and Gabriella in here, Maria" Sandra said. "Lucille and Jack you're right across the hall in the room you had last time and Troy you'll be up in the attic room" she showed Troy how to pull down the folding stair-ladder and Troy looking disappointed carried his bag up the ladder. Unlike the bare open attic the girls camped out in at Denise and Robert's this attic had a bedroom partitioned off with a single bed taking up half the space. It was an inconvenient place to stay, cold and uninviting with it's plain white walls bare wooden floor and no central heating ducts, and the door didn't lock from the inside so he would be disturbed by rob and Sandra's son Eden. Worse the door could be locked from the outside and there was no sign of the key. Troy placed his bag on the bed and hurried down to join Gabriella.

He knocked lightly on Gabriella and Maria's door. "Come in Troy" called Maria knowingly.

Troy entered the room and noticed the two king single beds with thick comforters, pale blue carpet and fragile looking French replica furniture.

"I'm sorry you and Gabriella aren't together Troy. I'd offer to stay in your room but I'm not sure how I'd manage that ladder in the middle of the night" Maria explained apologetically.

"It's okay, Gabriella can come up and stay with me if she'd like, I'm not sharing with anyone. The bed's a bit small but we managed last night. You might want to bring your blankets if you come up though Gabriella there's no heat up there" Troy offered.

"Can you carry them up for me?" Gabriella asked smiling.

"As you wish my lady" Troy said playfully grabbing Gabriella's bags "I'll come back for the quilts" he warned Maria.

"Which bed do you want Mom and I'll fold up the other quilts for Troy?" Gabriella asked cheerfully.

"I'll take the one over here. That window faces east and I don't really fancy being woken by the sunrise" Maria decided opening her bag and laying out her personal items on the bedside table.

Gabriella folded up the quilt on the other bed and Troy lifted Maria's suitcase onto the stripped bed for her before taking the quilt in one hand and Gabriella's hand in the other leading her up the ladder.

"Put the ladder back up if you're going to stay up there Troy, having it down like that creates a draft" Sandra called up the stairs to them.

"Sure thing Sandra" Troy called pulling the cord to fold the ladder back up and close off the manhole, then pulled up the cord so that the Ladder couldn't be lowered from the hallway below.

"What are you doing Troy?" Gabriella asked shocked.

Troy led her over to his room and showed her the lock. "For some reason this door can only be locked and unlocked with the key and the key isn't here. I don't want to have to worry about Eden locking us in." He explained.

"Who is Eden?" Gabriella asked not having heard the name.

"Rob and Sandra's son, he's sixteen" Troy explained frowning at the thought of him.

"Another prankster" Gabriella said sighing.

"No he's more of a trouble maker and we've never really gotten along. I wouldn't put it past him to lock us in and deny doing it to get us into trouble. Watch out for him Gabriella" Troy warned.

Gabriella didn't want to take the warning seriously but after what had happened with Luke she promised to keep her guard up."

Gabriella took the quilts from Troy and started to make up the bed. "I can see why you wanted me to bring the extra blanket's you would have frozen" she said taking in the lack of heating and the thin blankets on the bed. "What would you have done if I had chosen to stay down with Mom?"

Troy shrugged, "My sleeping bag is in the car" he said cheerfully.

"Why on earth would they do this? Surely there's somewhere downstairs you could sleep?"

"Didn't you hear how much noise the stair-ladder makes? They are making sure you can't sneak up here during the night" Troy said.

"But why?"

Troy shook his head "I don't know Gabriella. It doesn't matter though you don't need to sneak around. Maybe they use it for when Eden's girlfriend stays the night and it's just habit." Troy laughed at the idea.

"Yes that sounds reasonable, Lucille never let me stay with you. But it doesn't explain why the blankets are so thin." Gabriella said thoughtfully looking at the bed.

Troy smiled at his wife then threw himself on the bed and bounced up and down. "Listen" he said grinning.

"Listen to what?" Gabriella asked.

"Listen to the bed" Troy said still bouncing.

Gabriella smiled "I can hardly hear it" she said happily.

"Do you want to go for a walk or something?" Gabriella asked knowing that he'd normally be itching to be active after a day in the car.

"Or we could just stay here" Troy suggested.

"I'm happy to stay and cuddle but if you want more than that you'll have to wait another day" Gabriella said apologetically.

To her relief Troy laughed, "I hadn't forgotten" he said "it's just I dragged you out to walk and cycle yesterday so today we should do what you want."

"Let's go out then. You can show me around the neighbourhood" Gabriella said jumping up wanting to get out of this depressing little room.

They knocked on Maria's door on their way downstairs "We're going to go for a walk" Gabriella told her mother.

"Have fun you two, thanks for letting me know. In which direction should I send the search parties?"

"Towards the river or canal or whatever it is" Troy said gesturing to the left.

"Where are you two off to?" asked Lucille as she saw them heading for the door "Just for a bit of a walk, don't worry we won't get lost."

"Dinner's at seven sharp, make sure you're back in time to get cleaned up" Sandra insisted.

"Enjoy your walk" Lucille said smiling awkwardly at Sandra's bossiness.

"So what fantastic exercise adventure do you have for me today Mr Bolton?" Gabriella teased.

"Just a walk there's this river thing that way"

"A river thing" asked Gabriella amused.

"It's the Santa Cruz river, there's a bit of wilderness and a walking track" Troy explained. "Water is precious here so every bit of riverfront is developed."

"So no rollerblading or extreme skateboarding or of road biking" Gabriella continued to tease.

"Hey I didn't take you off road yesterday" Troy protested.

"I'm not sure the bike would have survived it if you did" Gabriella said dryly.

"No it was strange riding it though not being totally in control of how the bike moved" Troy commented.

They walked towards and the along the river peacefully hand in hand talking about inconsequential things.

Dinner was a very formal affair, especially when compared to the easygoing attitude at the Bolton's and the chaotic crowd at Lucille's sister's. Conversation was stilted and segregated. Rob and Jack were talking about work which would normally have interested Troy but in this case they were talking more about the organisation and paperwork side of things. Sandra was telling Maria and Lucille about her newest interior decoration project, again a subject that Troy and Gabriella could have found interesting if presented differently. Eden was sulking, because no one wanted to hear about the latest gossip among his friends which none of them knew, and Troy and Gabriella were eating quietly trying not to draw too much attention because Sandra and Rob seemed to frown slightly whenever they looked at them.

After dinner Sandra suggested cards, Jack opted out leaving Lucille Maria Sandra and Rob to play bridge. Jack attempted to draw Eden into conversation but the boy seemed to have lost all interest in sports since they were there last and had never had much interest in academics or a set plan for what he wanted to do with his life. Troy had suggested putting a movie on but this wasn't much of a success as Eden took over and put on an action thriller that Gabriella found boring and too gory to watch. So she and Troy soon made their excuses and claiming fatigue from the drive made their way to bed.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Jenate and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	88. Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella elected to have a quick shower so she turned on the water and got undressed while Troy lowered the steps and went up and collected both sets of toiletries and Gabriella's pyjamas and robe. He knocked quietly on the bathroom door and entered to find Gabriella wrapped in a bath towel untangling her hair with her fingers. The shower screen was completely clear so Troy backed out of the bathroom and sat in the hallway to wait his turn.

Troy finished in the bathroom quickly not wanting to leave Gabriella upstairs alone in that dismal little room. He raised the stair-ladder and pulled up the cord so that it couldn't be operated from below, It was a bit of a risk that they'd be locked in in the event of a fire but the windows at the other end of the attic opened out onto a fairly flat section of roof, and the multi-gabled style offered a series of several small jumps down to ground level. Eden had smirked at him as he waited in the hall for the bathroom, and it may just have been because he was sitting on the floor like he expected to be there for a while but Troy didn't trust him. Eden had proven himself to be quite vindictive in the past if he didn't get his own way.

They settled into the little bed enjoying the closeness and warmth of each other, exchanging gentle kisses. Neither of them felt particularly comfortable in Rob and Sandra's house and it took a while for them to fall asleep.

Troy woke early as usual. It was cramped in the tiny bed and Gabriella was sprawled on top of him sleeping. There was no way he was going to be able to extricate himself without waking her. For a moment he considered not getting up to run this morning though he had made tentative plans to run with his Dad.

However his bladder soon let him know that whether he ran or not staying in bed was not a viable option.

He slowly manoeuvred himself out from under Gabriella who murmured a sleepy protest.

"Sorry Gabi, I gotta go to the bathroom"

"Are you coming back"

"It's almost six I may as well start my run a little early."

"Do you want to come with me and pull up the sting after I close the stair-ladder?" Troy said hoping she would so that she'd be safe from whatever mischief Eden was planning.

"You think I should?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah Gabi, I do. I hope I'm wrong but the look on his face last night just screams he's planning something.

Troy quickly dressed and went to let down the steps.

"You're going to wake the whole house Troy" Gabriella protested.

"I need the bathroom, I'm not going to pee into a bucket just to avoid waking everyone up. I'm sorry it will disturb Mom and Maria but Sandra and Rob know I get up this early every morning and they still chose to put me up here. There is an empty bedroom on the ground floor they could have given us" Troy explained.

"Perhaps we should leave the steps down" Gabriella suggested.

"Not a good idea Gabriella, then if you go back to sleep you will have no warning if Eden comes up here and tries something" Troy argued.

"Okay Troy I'll put it up and pull up the cord but then you won't be able to get back up here either."

"I'll be fine, you'll probably be up by the time I get back and out of the shower and if not I can always shout for you to let the steps down."

"That will go down really well waking everyone up again" Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Like I said they allocated the beds" Troy said unconcerned. "Beside we'll be out for a while it's been too long since I had a really good run."

Gabriella laughed and kissed him "You go enjoy it" she said smiling sleepily.

"Love you Gabriella, sweet dreams" he said kissing her more deeply.

Gabriella raised the stair-ladder and pulled up the sting control as Troy had asked, before going back to bed.

Troy used the bathroom then knocked quietly on his father's door "Dad, do you want to run this morning?" he called softly.

He heard a muffled agreement and went downstairs to fill up his drink bottles. "Hey Dad, do you think we should ask Rob if he wants to join us?" Troy greeted his father, handing him a bottle.

"No I spoke to him last night he said he wanted to sleep in since this is his first day off, apparently he had to work over Christmas." Jack replied.

"Oops" Troy said shrugging to show he wasn't really all that concerned with the likelihood that the noise of the stair-ladder probably disturbed Rob's sleep in.

"That's not very considerate Troy" Jack scolded his son surprised at his attitude. He was aware that Troy ad Eden did not get along and that Troy didn't enjoy visiting his godparents but hadn't thought the situation was bad enough to make Troy ignore his usually quite good manners.

"Have you seen the room they gave me? And putting Gabriella in to share with Maria?" Troy retorted.

"Let's get going? Do you have a route in mind?" Jack asked changing the subject.

"That way then left at the main road and down along the riverfront to the end of the path and back" Troy said showing his father the route on Jack's phone.

"That's a pretty long run Troy"

"Worried you can't keep up old man?" Troy teased.

"Honestly? Yes" Jack said surprising Troy. "I doubt that I could keep up with you over that distance if you put all of your effort into it."

"Is something wrong Dad?" Troy asked anxiously.

"No Troy it's just you did all that extra running to and from Gabriella's before you got married. Much as it pains me to admit it you're fitter than I am."

Troy grinned, "flattery won't get me to go easy on you old man" he teased.

"Okay then Troy. Put your money where your mouth is" Jack said taking off leaving a still laughing Troy behind.

Troy quickly caught up and set a steady pace for the next four mile. They turned back and ran slightly slower before arriving back at the house covered in sweat. No one else was up yet so Troy elected to shower before calling up to Gabriella to let him back into their room. He walked upstairs wrapped in his towel running into Sandra who told him off for not being dressed and then Maria who merely laughed and wished him good morning.

"Gabriella" he called loudly.

Gabriella let down the stair-ladder and hurried back to their room to grab her stuff for the shower.

"Will you leave the steps down until I get back?" she asked.

"Sure" Troy agreed planning to dress as quickly as possible.

"Do you need more Calamine lotion?"

For a moment Troy was tempted to say yes just for the enjoyment of having her apply it, however the truth was that he really didn't need it any longer and he was afraid she would think he was taking advantage of the situation. "The itch is completely gone" he admitted. "However if you would like to apply it anyway I would be happy to have some" he added hopefully.

Gabriella laughed and shook her head. "Sorry Troy, maybe another time" she flirted, leaving to have a shower.

Troy waited in their room for her then went out and sat on the top of the stair-ladder while she dressed to make sure she wasn't interrupted. She soon joined him and they went down to breakfast together.

A/N: thank you to Pumpkinking5, Siobhan, Wildcat2016, JesselyricsR5 and Guest for your support.


	89. Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

December 31st

"You were very inconsiderate to wake us all up at the crack of dawn Troy" Sandra said snappily as Troy sat down for breakfast.

"Sorry I always get up to run that early I didn't think about it" Troy refused to feel guilty, Rob and Sandra knew that he ran every morning, that is why he'd been allocated the spare room on the ground floor when they'd stayed in Tucson two years earlier. A room that was currently unoccupied. It was her own fault that the stair-ladder being lowered had woken her up.

"You wake your parent's up that early every morning?" Rob asked grumpily.

Troy shrugged and looked at his parents. Lucille nodded "I have to admit those early mornings are about the only thing I don't miss about having you home" she said to Troy smiling.

"Sorry Mom. I didn't realise I was waking you up" Troy apologised sincerely.

"Don't worry about it most of the time it's your father" Lucille said dryly.

"And he doesn't get up and run since I moved out?" Troy asked surprised.

"I mostly run of an evening now Troy, but I'll go back to running with you in the morning if you want." Jack offered.

"You don't need to run with me to make sure I run. We ran nearly eight mile this morning and it wasn't me that chose to turn back." Troy said without bragging.

"I know that Troy. I admire your dedication but I enjoy running with you much better than running by myself. It just doesn't seem worth getting up to run alone most days and I have a lot more free time of an afternoon now" (Time he'd previously spent on the basketball court with Troy).

Troy had another thought and turned to his mother-in-law, "Maria I'm sorry if I've been waking you up of a morning." He apologised.

Maria was quick to reassure him. "You haven't Troy, I occasionally hear you come back in but I'm ready to get up myself by then. I haven't heard you leaving at all."

Conversation lapsed as they all ate somewhat peacefully until Eden finished eating and smirked at Troy. "Gabriella slept up with Troy" he said, trying to cause trouble.

Eden was disappointed to see Jack, Lucille and Maria were not at all surprised or upset, however his mother's reaction was all that he had hoped for.

"I won't have such shenanigans going on in my house" Sandra screeched.

"Huh." Troy said confused.

Sandra ignored Troy and rounded on Gabriella "You will stay in your own bed from now on missy. I don't care what your parents say I will not allow such immoral behaviour in my home"

Sandra made a mistake when she yelled at Gabriella instead of Troy. Troy would have forgiven her whatever he said to him and bitten his tongue for his parents' sake.

"You let Mom and Dad share a bed. Or is that because you think they are too old to have sex?" Troy asked with a falsely innocent expression.

Gabriella and Lucille each immediately slapped him Gabriella across the shoulder and Lucille the back of the head.

"Oww." Troy turned to his wife with his lip stuck out pouting, trying to play for sympathy. He knew he'd more than deserved the slap from his mother but was hoping to at least make Gabriella regret hitting him.

"Don't say things like that" Gabriella said scoldingly.

"Your mother and father are married" Sandra said scathingly.

"So are Gabriella and I. And you owe my wife an apology. I am not going to let anyone speak to my wife that way. She did nothing to deserve it."

Sandra scowled but did not answer.

It surprised Jack, Lucille, Gabriella and Maria that Troy also let the subject drop. Gabriella could feel the tension in him when she laid her hand on his thigh but he held on to his temper. He calmly finished his breakfast and instead of helping himself to seconds turned to Lucille.

"Mom can I borrow your car?" he asked.

"Sure Troy where do you want to go" Lucille asked thinking that he'd planned some sort of outing for himself and Gabriella, or just wanted to get away from Sandra before he said something his parents would regret.

"Albuquerque" Troy said determinedly.

"Troy you can't just up and leave in the middle of our holiday" Lucille said in shock.

Troy ignored her protest and turned to his mother-in-law "You're welcome to come with us" he offered.

"I hope you can sort things out so it doesn't come to that Troy, but thank you" Maria said calmly accepting the offer.

Jack tried to act as peacemaker. "Troy, we really don't want the three of you to drive back on your own. What will it take for you to feel able to stay?"

"A genuine apology to Gabriella for speaking to her like that. I cannot ask Gabriella to stay somewhere she is so clearly unwelcome" Troy said uncompromisingly.

Jack sighed, his son was right. He looked at Sandra who was glaring at Troy defiantly, then at his wife. After a moment Lucille nodded and stood to leave the room "I'll go start packing" she said quietly.

Now Troy felt guilty "No Mama you don't have to come with us we will be fine, stay and enjoy your visit with your friends."

"It's alright Troy. I would feel better staying together."

Rob couldn't believe that Jack and Lucille were supporting their son's rebellion. "You need to pull that boy back into line Jack. He can't be allowed to walk out in a sulk like that" he said.

Jack looked at his friend "No Troy has a point, I wouldn't let anyone disrespect Lucille like that, and I very much doubt you would have let me speak to Sandra like that. Gabriella is my daughter-in-law and very dear to us both. I'm proud of the way Troy kept his temper and defended his wife calmly" Jack explained. "I don't want to leave but unless Sandra apologises we will be going."

Jack also got up leaving Rob Sandra and Eden sitting alone at the table.

"Eden go up to your room" Rob said

"But Dad I didn't do anything" Eden whined.

Rob looked at his son and for the first time Eden came off the worse in comparison with his godson. Troy didn't whine or throw a tantrum, he'd held on to his temper and acted with maturity while expecting to be treated as an adult, fairly and with respect.

"Eden please go to your room. I need to talk to your mother" Rob said firmly.

Eden glared at his father who sat watching him then got up and stomped out of the room slamming the door.

Sandra turned on him as soon as Eden had left the room. "What do you mean you need to talk to me."

"Sandra, Jack and Lucille are upstairs packing to leave. They will go unless you apologise to Gabriella and I very much doubt our friendship will ever be the same. You were out of line, Troy and Gabriella didn't do anything wrong. Lucille told us about their marriage you should have put them in a room together in the first place."

"He's too young to be married. It is such a bad example to set for Eden" Sandra argued.

"Troy is married. That's a fact whether you think he's old enough or not" Rob said. "Imagine how you would have felt if we'd gone to visit family friends after we got married and they said they didn't approve of our marriage and forced us to sleep in separate rooms. If you weren't prepared to accept them you should have said something when Lucille rang to ask that Gabriella and Maria be included in the invitation.

"They wouldn't have come without them."

"Did Lucille actually say that?"

"No but I could hear it in her voice."

"So you knew that including and accepting Troy's wife was important to Lucille and yet you still insulted the girl."

Sandra remained silent, finally understanding that she had seriously upset her friend, and that she did need to apologise to both Jack and Lucille and Troy and Gabriella. She decided to take on the easier one first.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats3026, Kiara, iminlove13, Guest, JesselyricsR5 and TimelessReader for your support.


	90. Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

December 31st

"Lucille, Jack, I'm sorry. I was wrong to do what I did." Sandra saw that the two were not moved by her apology. "I'm on my way up to apologise to Troy and Gabriella"

"Troy is very protective of his wife. He made it clear even to us that she will always come first with him. Don't apologise just to keep them from leaving unless you are genuinely prepared to accept their marriage and make Gabriella welcome. Otherwise it will blow up in your face. I can't promise Troy will manage to hold on to his temper if you insult his wife again" Lucille warned Sandra.

"Never mind that, Gabriella is now my daughter, insult her again and I can't promise I won't lose my temper" Jack interrupted glaring at Sandra to make his point.

Sandra nodded. "I really am sorry" she said quietly.

The stair-ladder was down so she headed up to find Gabriella putting the last of their things into their bags.

"I think that's everything. You take the bags down and I'll check the bathroom" she said to Troy.

"Troy, Gabriella, I want to apologise for what I said earlier, and for putting you up here Troy, I hope you were warm enough" she said wincing as she looked around the cold little room. She'd honestly forgotten how chilly the room could be."

"We brought Gabriella's quilts up and were warm as toast, though a little cramped" Troy said blandly and looked at her clearly waiting for her explanation and apology.

"I'd blocked Lucille telling me you were married out of my mind and I spoke to you as if you were that little tramp that sometimes comes to visit Eden. I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry I offended you both."

Troy looked at Gabriella who nodded "Apology accepted" she said quietly.

"Do you both want to move down into the room you had last time Troy? It will be a little noisier than this with the party tonight but you would have more space" Sandra offered.

Troy thought it over "No I think I'd rather be up here away from the party, besides you might need that room in case someone overindulges and needs to be put to bed" he added grinning.

"It's not going to be that sort of party Troy!" Sandra exclaimed vehemently.

"It's New Year's Eve, in my experience it will turn into that sort of party whether you want it to or not" Troy said laughing.

Troy did end up borrowing his mother's car but not to return to Albuquerque but rather to show Maria and Gabriella around Tucson. Taking Maria's presence and tastes into consideration they did some visiting art galleries and historical sites rather than the more active attractions Troy had visited in the past. It was a surprisingly relaxed and enjoyable day eating lunch out and returning to the house about 4 o'clock.

"I'm surprised you're not itching to do something more active Troy" said Maria smiling.

"I am capable of having a quiet day out" Troy protested. "I can sit in class all day"

"Troy I've heard your schedule, training in free period and lunch as well as before and after school. What you call an average day contains more exercise than I get in a month."

Troy looked surprised, he knew that he was an elite athlete and few people exercised as much as he did but he never truly thought about it his training schedule was normal for him and had been for so long he wasn't really aware how much more time he spent exercising than average people. "I never thought about it like that, I admit I would happily play some basketball when we get home if Dad wants to but we haven't been sitting still all day so I'm not feeling the need to be more active like the last few days.

Preparations for Rob and Sandra's party were in full swing when they returned and Troy and Gabriella were quickly recruited to help. They weren't planning to stay for the party itself, Troy had borrowed Jack's phone and made plans for them before they left Albuquerque. Troy had tried to find a New Year's Eve party that had karaoke but being in a strange city they hadn't been able to. They had been invited to a party by Eden, or rather Sandra had forced Eden to offer to include them in his plans but given that Troy did not particularly like Eden or any of his friends they declined electing to spend the evening alone. Rob and Sandra were having a small adult party which Troy and Gabriella had subtly been dissuaded from attending so Troy had made a booking at a small restaurant nearby. The restaurant was far more fancy than the young couple usually preferred but had been chosen because it boasted a romantic atmosphere, and a dance floor. It closed at ten o'clock even on New Year's Eve and therefore wasn't busy. The other diner's were all couple's more interested in privacy than partying. Troy borrowed his mother's car and unknown to Gabriella had packed his swag in the trunk.

After a wonderful meal and several hours dancing with each other they left as the restaurant was closing. They walked to the car park hand in hand and reaching the shadows Troy took her into his arms and kissed her passionately.

"Happy New Year Gabi" he said kissing her again.

"Happy New Year Troy" Gabriella replied ignoring the fact it was only just past ten o'clock.

"This is how I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year last year but I couldn't work up the courage"

"I wanted you to kiss me like that" Gabriella agreed. "But we don't know how it would have changed things. And our actual first kiss was perfect so I have no real regrets."

Troy grinned "And my brilliant wife if correct as usual" he teased getting into the car.

Gabriella was surprised when Troy instead of returning to his parent's friends consulted a hand drawn map that he was careful not to let Gabriella see and headed out of town. Rob and Sandra lived almost at the edge of Tucson so they soon found themselves alone in a car park at the edge of the Sanguaro National Park. "Troy? What are we doing here it's too dangerous to walk out here in the dark."

"Yeah I know. But I didn't want to go back to Rob and Sandra's party"

"Did you get those directions from Eden because if you did I would expect him and his friends to turn up soon to try and embarrass us" Gabriella said nervously.

"No I didn't get the map from him or any of his friends. Dad drew it for me when I explained that we wanted to be alone for New Years but pretty much had nowhere to go. Eden doesn't know where we are. I'm not that stupid, the brat would probably show up with a camera" Troy replied.

"So you want to make out in the car, it really isn't warm enough to do much more than that." Gabriella shivered slightly.

"Hold on a tic" Troy said getting out of the car and going round to get something out of the trunk. He opened Gabriella's door and said "There's more room to cuddle in the back".

They climbed into the back seat and Troy covered them with his sleeping bag and waterproof groundcover.

"Did you bring me back here to seduce me Mr Bolton?" Gabriella teased.

"No, but now you mention it, that does seem like an excellent idea." Troy teased back leaning in to kiss her passionately. After several minutes of kissing he lifted his head "I didn't mean to insinuate that I wanted sex by bringing you here, I just wanted to spend some time with you away from everyone. I'm happy just to be able to talk freely and know nobody is else can hear us. I'm tired of our every action and conversation being watched or overheard, especially since we arrived in Tucson. I feel like every word I say is being judged" Troy complained.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13, Wildcats2016, Kiara and Siobhan for your support.


	91. Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"It's pretty obvious that Rob and Sandra don't approve of our marriage." Gabriella commented "Are you upset by it?"

Troy sighed, "Not really, they were great godparent's when I was little and they lived in Albuquerque, but I've never got along with Eden, and they always blamed me for any trouble he caused and refused to discipline him no matter how much of a little shit he was, Dad objected to the unfairness of their actions and they haven't been around so much in the last five years or so. It's not our marriage Rob disapproves of it's me in general. Sandra wasn't so bad before this visit but I still wouldn't guarantee that her problem is with our marriage instead of something else. Dad told me that Eden didn't make the junior varsity team, so that might be the problem. She's always been so certain that he was going to be a better Basketball player than me."

"I just can't wait to go home." Gabriella looked horrified at what she'd just said "I mean I liked your family Troy please don't think I didn't but I can't handle all the attention all of the time."

"Don't worry about it. I want to go home too. I thought the attention at school was bad but at least we can get away from it after school. This knowing people are watching us as if they're waiting for us to crack all the time is too much. One thing about it though it's really made me appreciate how great Maria and Mum and Dad have been" Troy said gratefully.

"Yeah, I was surprised how accepting they've been about everything. Though I feel guilty about how upset your mum has been about missing the wedding" Gabriella agreed.

Troy sighed "I never meant to hurt her like that" he said sadly. "I wish there was something we could do to fix it."

"We could have another wedding" Gabriella offered.

"Do you want to?" Troy asked.

"Not for my sake, no" Gabriella admitted "It would be different if we'd just had a courthouse official ceremony but the wedding we had was absolutely perfect and real. Getting married again wouldn't mean anything if we were just doing it to make our parents happy."

"You're right it wouldn't be the same. I'm sorry you couldn't have a big wedding with all our friends and family but I'd rather not pretend to get married again to please other people" Troy admitted, he shrugged "I might feel different in a couple of years, and I'd gladly do it again if it would mean something to you."

"Then there's nothing we can do, she will get over it. There's no point having another ceremony if our hearts aren't in it. I think maybe it will be easier for her when we are staying with them next semester. She's really missed having you home" Gabriella tried to reassure him that Lucille would get over it.

Troy grinned. "Part of me is looking forward to moving back home, not that I haven't liked living with Maria, but I'm also a bit anxious how it will work out" he admitted.

"What are you worried about?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"Well for starters, both Mum and Dad are home a lot more than Maria. And Dad and the constant pressure about Basketball, it's been nice to be more in charge of my own training" Troy explained.

"Yet you also missed running with him" Gabriella pointed out.

"Yeah I know." Troy sighed in frustration.

"It will work out Troy I know it will, you'll see." Gabriella reassured him. "Though it sounds like time on our own might be a bit harder to come by, maybe we should take advantage of being alone now." She moved her hands up to play with the back of his hair and pulled him down to kiss."

"And how do you suggest we do that Mrs Bolton" Troy leered.

"Well now that depends on what's in your wallet" Gabriella teased him. She grabbed his wallet and looked inside frowning when she didn't find what she was looking for.

Troy dug into his front pocket and found the condoms he'd put there while he'd been ready to go out. "I have some here" he said handing them to her.

"Hoping to get lucky tonight Mr Bolton?" she teased.

Troy blushed, "No just wanting to make sure we weren't tempted to take any stupid risks" he said quietly.

Gabriella smiled at him "Thank you" she said.

"I know this is going to sound mad but maybe we should get out and set up the swag over there under the tree" Troy suggested.

"Troy it's freezing, that's taking your desire to be one with nature way too far Mr closet nudist" protested Gabriella shivering at the thought.

Troy blushed "It's not that" he stammered. It's just... it'll be really awkward to spend the whole day in the car with our parents on the way home if it reeks of sex" he explained.

Gabriella bit her lip thoughtfully "You're right, but is it safe to be out of the car at night."

"I don't know, and I don't know if this is a regular spot for parking either. If other people will come by. It's okay if you don't want to take the risk."

"I really don't think it's safe Troy. This isn't the Albuquerque botanical gardens there's real wild animals in the forest, not to mention that it is about 2 degrees (Celcius) outside and we'd be lying in the mud." Gabriella leaned over and kissed him passionately "It's not that I don't want to" she reassured him. "In fact we could probably go back to the house and make love in our bed in an hour or so. The others have probably had enough to drink to ensure they'll be heavy sleepers tonight" she suggested.

"Yeah you're right, that does sound better than fooling around in the car or outside" Troy agreed.

They kissed lazily for the next 40 minutes or so, careful not to let their passion get out of hand before climbing back into the front seat and heading towards Rob and Sandra's. They arrived back at the house just as the last of the guests was leaving and saying goodnight to their parents and hosts quickly made their way up to bed.

They closed the stair ladder and pulled up the control cord so that they wouldn't be disturbed. Troy pulled the condoms from his pocket and put them on the bedside table. Gabriella looked at them and smiled. Troy opened his arms invitingly and Gabriella walked in to his embrace wrapping her arms around his neck and initiating a passionate kiss their tongues dancing together. In a bold move Gabriella started to undress Troy. Troy hesitated to reciprocate, Gabriella was still a little too shy about her body. Finished with his shirt she unzipped his pants and helped him to step out of his trousers and boxers. He unzipped her dress and she stepped back out of reach as it fell to the floor and picked it up and hung it back on its hanger leaving Troy standing there totally naked.

It took a moment for Troy to realise that Gabriella was wearing the pale blue lingerie she wore to their wedding, she had been self conscious when she put it on in front of the bathroom mirror earlier. Gabriella had regained the weight she lost when depressed about the prospect of having to marry Eduardo and the bra was a good bit tighter now. Troy thought she looked incredibly sexy on their wedding day and even more so now.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, iminlove13, Kiara, JesselyricsR5 and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	92. Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella was a little self conscious about how tight her bra now was. She knew that she was a healthy weight but also that she would probably always feel a little out of shape compared to Troy who literally didn't seem to have any extraneous fat on his entire body, but the bra being too tight made her feel overweight. However there was no mistaking the look of appreciation in Troy's eyes. He brought his hands up to cup her breasts but made no move to unfasten her bra. "You look so amazing" he breathed reverently kissing her cleavage. Gabriella blushed but smiled at the compliment.

Troy lifted her breast so that the nipple peeked out the top of the dup and took it into his mouth suckling and very gently biting being careful to watch her reaction to be sure he wasn't accidentally hurting her and that she was enjoying his ministrations. Gabriella arched her back and Troy's arms went around her to hold her up as her knees went weak. She tilted her pelvis and her pubic bone ground against Troy's rock hard erection.

Troy picked her up intending to carry her over to the bed but stumbled slightly when she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He twisted so that her back was against the wall and moved his hands down to cup her bum holding her up. He thrust against her his cock sliding over her soaking wet panties, his mouth returning to her breasts. Gabriella moaned moving her hips faster seeking more stimulation.

"Gabriella is you don't stop I'm gonna cum" Troy warned desperately trying to control himself.

"Cum if you want I can hand wash these before I put them in the wash basket" Gabriella said increasing the speed and force of her thrusts.

Troy moaned and pulled her hard against him and let go beginning to thrust erratically before coming with a muffled shout.

Gabriella gave a whimper of disappointment as he stopped thrusting and lowered her to her feet holding the wall for support.

"Oh God Gabi, I'm sorry" Troy panted.

"It's okay I told you you could cum" Gabriella replied trying to hide the fact she was still in desperate need of release.

Troy dropped to his knees and grasping the sides of her panties slowly slid them down her legs giving her plenty of time to stop him if she wanted to. He helped her step out of them and then nudged her legs apart burying his face between them. He gently separated her outer lips and blew gently on her core before lapping at her juices. He thrust a finger into her and suckled her clitoris as he had her nipple earlier swirling his tongue around it. Gabriella was already so close from the feel of Troy's penis thrusting along her slit earlier that it took only moments for her to come. Grabbing his head and holding it tightly in place she thrust against it and his finger moaning loudly. Troy didn't stop until the last tremors had left her body and still holding him by the hair she pulled him away in time for her knees to give way.

Troy caught her before he landed on the floor and carried her over to the bed laying her down on top of the quilt and reaching over her to get a condom from the bedside. He held it up questioningly and Gabriella nodded. Troy quickly tore open the packet and rolled it on before positioning himself and thrusting in. He stopped to let Gabriella have time to adjust, kissing her forehead and watching closely for any sign of discomfort. He started gently rocking willing himself to go slow, kissing her languidly with his tongue mimicking his thrusts. Gabriella soon started thrusting up against him as her arousal grew again and this time they managed to cum together muffling each other's shouts in their kiss.

Troy collapsed on top of her not able to roll the two of them over on the tiny bed. He carefully worked his hand down in between them and removed the condom being careful not to spill its contents. Gabriella enjoyed the feeling of him lying on top of her pressing her into the bed for a while but it made it difficult for her to get her breath back. Unfortunately by then she had to wake Troy up to get him to move.

"Again?" he asked teasingly.

"No you insatiable man, you're squashing me."

Troy rolled himself of her and fell onto the floor.

"Troy are you alright?"

"I'm fine Gabi I just forgot for a moment how small this bed is" he chucked ruefully rubbing his bum. "But if you're going to offer to kiss it better I won't say no" he added suggestively.

Gabriella got up from the bed careful not to step on Troy and bent down to check on him.

"I really am fine Gabi" he said seeing that she looked worried. He got up and pulling the covers back lay on the bed. "Come and cuddle up" he invited her.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Seriously, I landed on my bum but it doesn't really hurt I doubt it will even bruise" he answered honestly.

Gabriella smiled and sat on the side of the bed. "You said you wanted me to kiss it better?" she offered.

Troy turned on his side. "You want to kiss my bum?" he asked incredulously.

Gabriella shrugged if that's where it hurts" he said licking her lips.

Troy grinned "Well it hurts a bit here he said pointing to his lip

Gabriella kissed his gently but thoroughly "Where else?" she asked.

"Well my chest kinda hurts and here and here" he said cupping his penis and scrotum, giving her a choice how far she wanted to take this playing nurse.

"Well I definitely have some work to do, lay still" she said kissing her way down his neck and over his chest lingering at his nipples to play.

Troy arched his back and went to put his arms around his wife.

"Uh UH I said lay still" she said teasingly.

Troy put his hands behind his head and watched while Gabriella kissed her way down his body. He was expecting light kisses like she used to give him before she applied the calamine lotion but lying there waiting knowing she was going to kiss him was incredibly hot and his cock was hard and aching by the time she reached it.

She bypassed his cock and kissed his balls not liking the sensation of the growing back hair then kissed her way up his shaft to the tip before swirling her tongue around it and blowing gently. She looked up at Troy to find him watching her intently. Then lifted him in her hands and with her eyes still locked on his, sucked the tip and top half of the shaft into her mouth dancing her tongue along the veins.

It had to have been the hottest thing Troy had ever seen, his cock sliding in and out of her mouth while her eyes watched his for is reaction. Part of him wanted to close his eyes and throw his head back to concentrate on the sensation but he was entranced by the expressions in Gabriella's eyes as she concentrated on her second attempt at giving him a blowjob. She didn't try to take more than half of him into her mouth and was tightly holding rather than pumping the base so while Troy could feel his arousal build and build to the point he desperately needed to cum he wasn't able to finish.

"Gabriella please" he begged.

Gabriella raised an eyebrow and made an enquiring noise in her throat causing Troy to moan at the vibration.

"Please Gabi... Oh God... I need to..." he babbled incoherently unfortunately still not explaining what he needed.

Gabriella pulled her mouth away making Troy whimper, "Troy, you need to tell me what you want me to do" she said confused, "do you want me to stop I thought I was doing okay"

Hearing the self doubt in Gabriella's voice gave Troy pause but he was too close to really concentrate on anything else. He pulled her upwards and attempted to thrust into her.

"Stop Troy Wait" Gabriella exclaimed urgently.

Troy froze. Had he truly been about to do that against her will.

Gabriella seeing Troy's expression hurried to reassure him "It's okay Troy but we need this first" she said reaching for a condom and moving back to put it on. As soon as it was in place she carefully lowered herself onto troy squeezing her internal walls around him "Now you can go for it" she encouraged rocking against him.

Troy brought his hands to her hips helping to hold her in place and encouraging her to move more vigorously as he thrust into her for all he was worth. "I'm not going to last" he said moving one hand to fondle her clit and lifting his head a little to watch her breasts bouncing both nipples still showing where he'd pushed her bra down earlier.

Troy was right he exploded into her almost immediately, but Gabriella was close behind the incredibly hard thrusts hitting her cervix and the fingering of her clit sending her over the edge. She collapsed on top of him with his softening cock still inside her.

Troy reached up and finally unfastened her bra knowing that it was too constricting to sleep in. "Do you want a T-shirt to sleep in?" he asked.

Gabriella stirred slightly and made a negative noise before settling back to sleep. Troy awkwardly withdrew and removed the condom dropping it on the floor and manoeuvred the quilts over the top of the two of them and quickly fell asleep too.

A/N: Thank you to JesselyricsR5, Pumpkinking5, iminlove13, Widcats2016, Kiara and suzyxqx22 for your support.


	93. Chapter 93

Chapter 93

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

As always Troy woke first the next morning and for once he wasn't in a hurry to get up. He looked down and smiled at Gabriella still lying sleeping on his chest with the covers pulled up to her nose. He was a little worried that he didn't have a shirt in reach for when she woke up but since there was nothing he could do about it decided to hope for the best and lay there enjoying the feel of their naked bodies entwined around each other.

Troy was hard in the sleepy morning arousal kind of way. Aroused enough to enjoy the sensation but not yet at the point that he needed to do anything about it. Troy's hand was cupping Gabriella's ass cheeks and he couldn't help but squeeze it gently when he noticed. Gabriella squirmed slightly in response and Troy then realised his cock was stuck to the junction between her stomach and her thigh with dried semen in a rather unpleasant way. He winced and moved his hand around to unstick himself. His hand accidentally brushed across Gabriella's opening and she moaned in her sleep rocking against him.

He was able to unstick himself and moved his hands away not wanting to wake Gabriella up, or to have her think he would take advantage of her like that when she was asleep. Unfortunately Gabriella squirmed, unconsciously looking for the stimulation and her movements aligned her so that the head of his cock was rubbing against her clitoris. Troy was now desperately trying to lie still and decide what he should do. Though he knew he should move away he really wanted to let himself enjoy the sensation to thrust against her until they both orgasmed, but Gabriella was still asleep and it felt wrong to do that without her permission.

"Gabriella" he called softly trying to gently wake her up. "Gabriella, are you awake?"

"Hmmm" Gabriella replied still clearly more asleep than awake and rocked instinctively against him.

Troy lost his battle with his conscience and started thrusting gently against her.

Gabriella's moans increased and she began to orgasm, waking up as she did. The erratic grinding against him as she orgasmed triggered Troy's own orgasm and Gabriella opened her eyes to look up at Troy who had his eyes shut as he came.

Gabriella didn't realise that Troy had been awake and was worried that he'd be upset like he was last time he'd had a wet dream. Troy opened his eyes and saw Gabriella looking at him with concern.

"I'm sorry Gabriella I didn't mean to..."

Gabriella kissed him to stop his babbling and then put her fingers over his mouth and drew away to talk.

"It's okay Troy. These dreams happen. I know that. There's nothing to be sorry for. I came too"

For a moment Troy was tempted to leave Gabriella thinking he'd been sleeping but he'd never lied to her and he really didn't want to start.

"Gabriella" he said quietly, "I was awake"

Gabriella sat up still straddling him and looked at him her eyes demanding an explanation.

"I woke up and you were on top of me like that and I was sticky with dried semen and needed to adjust myself and I accidentally touched you there, I swear it was an accident Gabi, and then you squirmed around to get comfortable again and you moved so we were right there and it felt so good and I tried to lie still and I tried to wake you up but you started to move against me and..." Troy spoke so quickly Gabriella had to struggle to understand him his fear of her reaction very clear. She put her hand back over his mouth to stem the flow of words and thought hard. She decided she wasn't that upset about what had happened it sounded like it was a natural consequence of falling asleep still intimately entwined on such a small bed and troy being unable to roll her away from him. Suddenly she had a terrible thought.

Troy saw her stiffen and mistook her reaction for anger and rejection. He wanted to apologise again but Gabriella's hand was still over his mouth.

"Troy" Gabriella asked fearfully "what happened to the condom?"

"Oh God I'm sorry I never even thought to I mean we weren't having sex. I'm so sorry Gabi. I...

It took Gabriella a minute to understand that Troy was apologising for not using a condom that morning not telling her he didn't know what happened to the one he was wearing the night before."

"Troy" she interrupted urgently. "The condom last night, where is it?" she asked, desperately needing to know that it hadn't fallen off inside her as Troy's erection had softened.

"I dunno, I dropped it on the floor" Troy replied confused.

"You mean the second one from when I was on top" she asked blushing slightly but needing the clarification.

"Yes, what are you worried about?" he asked worried because Gabriella was even though he didn't understand why.

"I thought that.. I mean I fell asleep.. I just..." Gabriella was now scarlet with embarrassment.

Troy sat up and kissed her "Gabi this is me Troy. You can tell me anything. I won't be upset. And if you weren't embarrassed to do it, there's no reason to be embarrassed to talk about it."

Gabriella took a deep breath "I was worried that we both fell asleep and you were still inside me and then when you moved in your sleep maybe it was still there"

Troy thought this garbled explanation through in his mind "You were afraid that the condom fell of inside you?" he asked.

Gabriella nodded.

Troy smiled gently "It didn't it's on the floor I promise" he said before kissing her.

Troy had meant it to be a soft kiss for reassurance, Gabriella kissed back passionately.

"So does this mean you forgive me for this morning?" Troy asked hesitantly, not wanting to remind her of his transgression but wanting to clear the air.

Gabriella shrugged "I don't think there is much to forgive. The way you describe it it was just as much my fault as yours and if I had have been awake I might have done it anyway."

Troy pulled her back down and kissed her deeply bringing his hands up to cup her breasts massaging ten gently.

Gabriella sat up in shock and looked down at herself realising her nudity for the first time that morning. She went to hold her hands in front of her breasts looking around for something to cover herself with.

"Gabriella you don't need to hide from me like this" Troy said almost sadly.

He grabbed her hands and pulled them away. "I know you're not comfortable like this but you look so beautiful sitting there. Troy sat up and pulled her to him crushing her breasts against his chest. "There all covered up" he said smiling at her.

"Yes because I can really just wear you on the front of me for the day" Gabriella replied sarcastically.

"I wouldn't mind" Troy shot back.

He held her tightly as she tried to pull back and cover herself with her hands again, inadvertently grinding herself into his cock. "Gabriella stop" he requested in a strangled voice.

She ignored him squirming to get free.

"Gabi please sit still" he begged.

Gabriella continued to squirm and Troy thrust up a little sliding the head of his cock over her entrance. "Gabriella you need to sit still, or I'm going to need a condom" he warned.

Gabriella froze.

"It's okay Gabi but you need to make a choice, there should be another condom on the bedside table or if you want me to I will close my eyes until you tell me I can open them" Troy said shutting his eyes tightly, letting Gabriella go, laying back on the bed and bringing his hands up over his eyes.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Siobhan, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13, Bolton's Girl 14, Troy and GabriellaForever, Boltonlove and kelly81387 for your support.

Merry Christmas.


	94. Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella thought for a moment she could almost feel Troy throbbing against her core then realised that the throbbing was probably her own pulse. She was aroused but the thought of having Troy watching her breasts bounce all over the place was embarrassing. She thought about compromising, getting up and putting on a bra and shirt before putting on the condom though that struck her as faintly ridiculous. She thought about how self conscious Troy had been after she'd shaved his pubic hair and how even when he felt uncertain he'd trusted her not to think badly of him.

Gabriella reached for the condom and rolled it into place before positioning herself and sinking down onto Troy's cock. She looked at him and saw that he still had his hands over his eyes. She took his hands and slowly pulled them away. "You can open your eyes Troy" she said seeing they were squeezed tightly shut.

Troy opened his eyes, his gaze moving quickly up to her face. Gabriella leaned down and kissed him deeply before sitting back up.

"You can look Troy" she said determinedly.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable" Troy said. "It really is okay if you want to get up and get a shirt."

"No Troy you still trusted me to look after you when you were feeling self conscious about your body. It is time I trusted you. I know that when you look at me you think I'm beautiful, I just need to learn to believe it too."

Troy's hands moved up to cup her breasts, kneading them gently. "They are absolutely perfect" he said almost matter-of-factly "I really don't understand how you don't see it."

"They're a little on the small side" Gabriella pointed out.

"They fit in my hands just right, they don't feel too small to me at all" Troy countered.

"When guys talk about who's hot they usually only mention girls with at least a D cup, they never mention me." Gabriella argued.  
"Which guys are we talking about?" Troy asked

"Well the guys behind me in English Lit and Jason and..." Troy stopped her from speaking with his finger.

"Most guys at East High think you're hot Gabriella, but they also know that I'll hurt them if they disrespect you like that" Troy explained. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise that protecting you from the trash talk would make you feel that the girls they do talk about are hotter or prettier than you. Besides you're my wife not theirs and I think you're the sexiest woman I've ever seen."

Gabriella realised that she'd been sitting talking to him while stilled impaled on his cock which given the subject of the conversation was still rock hard. She started rocking her hips and watched Troy's eyes darken in desire. Troy moved his hands to her waist and started helping hold her steady as she raised and lowered herself onto him. He looked towards where they were joined and realised he had the perfect view of his shaft sliding in and out of her entrance. Glancing up to see if she was okay with him looking down there he noticed she had her head thrown back and her eyes closed.

Troy decided to play it safe, Gabriella had given him permission to look at her breasts and they made a pretty impressive sight bouncing up and down as she rode him harder and harder. He could tell that he was close and used his hand on her clit to send her over the edge with him. She collapsed onto his chest and he carefully removed the condom and threw it on the floor grateful that it was not carpeted.

When Troy awoke next he was desperate to use the toilet especially with Gabriella lying on top of him adding to the pressure in his bladder. He carefully wriggled to the edge of the bed so he could roll Gabriella off him, then sat up. He grabbed sweatpants for himself and pants T-shirt and a hoodie for Gabriella then shook her shoulder lightly not wanting to leave her sleeping naked with the stairs down and knowing the sound of them lowering would probably wake her anyway. Gabriella moaned but refused to wake so Troy pulled the T-shirt over her head and threaded her legs into the track pants before leaving her to sleep.

The noise of the stairs being lowered woke Gabriella. She rolled over and stretched wincing as some of her muscles complained about being overused last night and this morning. As she became more alert she looked at herself in shock, she was fully dressed. It was incredibly sweet of him but how on earth had Troy managed that without waking her.

She swung her legs of the bed and want to stand, cringing as her foot landed on something cold, wet and slimy. Looking down she saw one of the used condoms stuck to her foot. She grabbed the tissues and cleaned it off, picking up the other one as well so she didn't step on it later. She hurried downstairs to use the loo before building up her courage and joining Troy in the shower.

"Gabriella?" Troy asked surprised. "You know you don't have to push yourself like this?" he asked concerned.

"I know but I'm stiff and a little sore and feel all sweaty and disgusting. I don't want to sit out there by myself like this" she explained. "It won't be like last time I promise" she added wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder closing her eyes as if she wanted to go back to sleep.

Troy chuckled and grabbing the body wash began gently washing her. Though both of them enjoyed the sensation of Troy washing and massaging her body it was strangely intimate without being sexual. Troy was of course slightly aroused as almost always in Gabriella's presence but this was about comfort and caring.

Troy had been about to get out of the shower when Gabriella joined him so he turned the water of and wrapped her in his towel, getting out to get another one from the cupboard for himself grateful that unlike at home extra towels were stored in the bathroom not out in the hall.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Siobhan, iminlove13,Kiara, jarsm, Wildcats2016 and JesselyricsR5 for your support.

Hope you all had/have a wonderful Christmas.


	95. Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy and Gabriella entered the kitchen together to find most of the family sitting quietly around the coffee pot but no sign of breakfast.

"Are we too late for breakfast?" Gabriella asked anxiously, not wanting to set off another argument.

"No Gabriella, I just needed a little fortification before I started cooking this morning" Sandra replied still holding her head.

"Troy and I could cook if you'd like?" Gabriella offered.

"Thank you for the offer but I prefer not to have other people in my kitchen" Sandra declined, smiling politely to take the sting out of her words.

"Didn't go out and run this morning Troy, feeling a little lazy, or was it too much New Year's Eve celebrations. A little hung over perhaps?" Eden teased trying again to get Troy into trouble.

"It better not have been, he was driving" Jack said calmly having seen Troy and Gabriella arrive home sober the night before.

"Just being considerate, the stair ladder wakes up the whole house and I know everyone has a late night and I wasn't sure how many extra guests you had staying this morning"

"Thank you for the consideration Troy" Sandra said quietly, "there are more than a few sore heads this morning"

Troy grinned

"Seeing breakfast's not ready you could run now if you'd like son" Jack said with stress on the word 'you' indicating that he would not be joining him if he chose to go.

"I think I'm alright for now" Troy said leaning back lazily in his chair with an arm slung around Gabriella's shoulders.

"Are you sure Troy? Tempers will be a little short today, it's not a good day to be hyperactive" his mother said quietly, trying not to draw the others attention.

"I'm sure Mama" Troy reassured her.

Lucille looked at her son carefully; he was sitting at the table patiently waiting for breakfast in no hurry to be off doing anything, not fidgeting or anxious at all. Troy was right he did not need to run this morning. It didn't make any sense. After a moment Lucille blushed as she realised why Troy was so relaxed. He may not have got up early but there was no doubt he'd got plenty of exercise. Troy blushed and looked away when he saw his mother blushing knowing that she knew what he and Gabriella had been up to that morning.

Luckily for her peace of mind Gabriella had totally missed the exchange between Lucille and Troy.

Sandra put bowls, cereal boxes and jugs of milk and juice on the table and set the toaster going. Troy poured himself and Gabriella drinks while she poured the cereal for the two of them. They were both hungry and ate in silence as the rest of the table discussed potential plans for the day. No one was feeling very energetic and the Bolton's had a more than seven hour drive ahead of them the following day so did not want to spend much time in the car that day. Troy suggested some hiking in the nearby National Parks but couldn't drum up enough enthusiasm from anyone else. He looked hopefully at Gabriella who shook her head at him.

"I could use a quiet day" she said softly so only he could hear.

Troy frowned and leaned over to whisper in her ear "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?" he asked fearfully.

Gabriella shook her head. "Let's just say I overexercised some muscles I haven't used in a while that are now a bit stiff and sore" she reassured him. "I'll be fine I just don't feel like hiking ten mile or anything strenuous."

"So do you want to look at the museum and the galleries we missed yesterday?"

"How about we buy some lunch and have a picnic, maybe in the botanical gardens if you promise not to strip off and jump in the lake?" Gabriella suggested teasingly.

Troy laughed. "Sounds like a plan we could have a lazy afternoon lying in the sun. Do you want to invite your Mom?"

Gabriella smiled "No I don't think she'll expect to spend the day with us again. It was good of you to change your plans yesterday to accommodate her. She wouldn't want you to do that again."

"Mom can I borrow your car again today please? Sandra, Gabriella and I are thinking about having a picnic, do you have any leftovers or stuff we could take?"

"Sure Troy just make sure that you fill it up for the trip tomorrow" Lucille said handing over her car keys and petrol card.

"I do Troy. Do you want a picnic blanket as well?" Sandra offered, secretly glad to have the two of them out of the house and away from Eden. She was still convinced they were a bad influence on her precious son.

"Sure if it's not any trouble, we could use my swag and sleeping bag if it is" Troy responded cheerfully.

"No trouble at all Troy it's in the hall cupboard on the top shelf.

Troy fetched the blanket while Sandra efficiently packaged up the leftovers "Is that enough?" she asked Gabriella "I remember how much Troy could eat."

Gabriella shrugged and laughed "It should be enough" she agreed not adding that they could always buy more food if it wasn't.

They arrived at the Botanical Gardens and found a sunny spot to set up the picnic blanket. Like the day after their wedding Gabriella had packed Troy a towel and change of clothes in case he wanted to go running but he wasn't showing any of the jitteriness that usually gave away the need for more exercise. Troy found the clothes and towel when he was checking out the food and laughed. "Did you pack my swim trunks too Gabi?"

"Yes Troy I did. I didn't want to give you any reason to skinny dip today even if you do love it" she teased.

"Gabriella" Troy whined I don't love it, it was necessary last time I was drenched in sweat and needed to wash up."

Gabriella laughed, "And I'm trying to make sure that it won't be necessary again today."

"It won't be I don't need to run today. Why does nobody believe that?"

"You must admit it's pretty rare" Gabriella reminded him. "And did you really want everyone to know how much exercise you actually got this morning?"

Troy blushed "No" he mumbled not wanting to tell her that he thought his Mom and therefore his Dad probably worked it out.

He lay back on the blanket and pulled Gabriella down next to him dozing off in the sunlight.

They slept for about an hour before Troy woke, he lay relaxed enjoying holding Gabriella watching her sleep.

She woke feeling him watching her and smiled up at him. "How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"Not long" he said smiling back at her.

"Are you hungry?" she asked not moving.

Troy shrugged one shoulder, the other one being occupied by Gabriella's head. "I could eat of course but I'm not particularly hungry yet" he denied "Are you?"

"No. Sometimes I wish we could just lie here together like this forever" Gabriella said quietly.

"You know you don't mean that" Troy replied. "We would miss our friends and you would miss learning new things"

"Not to mention I don't think you could lie still for more than a couple of hours" Gabriella agreed.

Troy laughed "Not to mention if I was going to lay somewhere with you forever we would need more privacy"

"True. I just meant that here with you today is very nearly perfect. I wouldn't change a thing."

"Yeah it is" Troy agreed. "I love you Gabriella. I'm glad now that your Mom and Dad made that contract. Otherwise we wouldn't have got married for years."

"I love you too Troy"

They eventually had lunch and slowly walked around the gardens, when they came to the water Gabriella got Troy's swim trunks out of the bag and offered them to him. "Do you want to jump in?" she asked.

Troy looked around there weren't a lot of people around but it was still public, there was nowhere near them that they could go into the water without being seen by someone. "Only if you come too" Troy said smiling.

"I don't think it's warm enough Troy. And there's nowhere private here to change."

"Did you bring your swim suit?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah" Gabriella said blushing "I wanted to be able to go in with you if you wanted to." She was still hesitant to take her shirt of in public Troy was always careful not to leave hickeys on her neck but their lovemaking the night before had left several marks on the top of her breasts that would be exposed by the low neckline of her swimsuit.

"How about if we walk this way" Troy suggested gesturing along the river bank "We might find somewhere more private to try."

They walked along and found an area where the water was very shallow and both took off their shoes and socks and rolled up their jeans to paddle. Gabriella was right the water really was too cold for her to consider swimming though Troy wasn't convinced. She sat on the bank and dried her feet while Tory continued to walk in the water.

A/N This is the last of the completely written chapters for a while. Chapter 96 is almost finished so with a bit of luck it shouls be up tomorrow but Chapter 97 hasn't been started so will be up later in the week.

Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 Kiara, JesselyricsR5 and Siobhan for your support.


	96. Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They remembered to stop and fill the car up on their way back to Rob and Sandra's and arrived back to walk in to the scene of an argument between Rob, Sandra and the other parents. Wanting an excuse to leave again Troy asked his father for the keys of his car offering to go fill up the tank for their journey tomorrow. Leaving the room they saw Eden watching the argument but knew they were unlikely to get an accurate description of the issue from him ignored his attempt to stop them to talk.

Nearly an hour later they hesitantly re-entered the house after taking as long as possible to fuel Jack's car. It was all quiet, there were no adults to be seen. Sandra was banging the pots in the kitchen and sounds of Mario-cart could be heard through Eden's door. After a whispered conversation Gabriella tapped lightly on Maria's door. "Hey Mom, are you decent?" she asked warning her mother that Troy was with her.

Maria opened the door and smiled at the two of them "I expect you're wanting to know what was going on earlier?" she asked letting them in. "You did the right thing leaving without asking about the argument earlier" she commented.

Troy shrugged "I just didn't want to get in the middle of it. Especially if it was about us I wanted to get Gabriella out of there before Sandra or Rob said something hurtful."

"What makes you think it was about the two of you" Maria asked curiously.

"Eden's smirk when we came in" Troy said dryly.

"I didn't see Eden there" Maria commented.

"He was sitting on the stairs enjoying the argument" Troy explained.

"I doubt he enjoyed the start of the argument" Maria said with a smile.

Troy looked confused "What was the fight about" Gabriella asked.

"And more importantly is it sorted" Troy asked anxiously.

"Well let's just say we'd probably be leaving in the morning whether we'd originally planned to or not"

"At least Dad's not planning on leaving now and trying to drive through the night" Troy said trying to reassure Maria and Gabriella.

"They were fighting about us again?" Gabriella asked resignedly.

"Not the two of you no. But about Troy being a bad influence on Eden over the years" Maria explained.

"That's rubbish. We hardly see them and he's always been a brat. His friends are the bad influence from what I can see" Troy protested.

"Yes I agree with you. I was glad when you turned down that party invitation. Even more so when I saw what state he was in when he came home" Maria said calmingly.

Troy looked enquiringly.

"I couldn't sleep. I was on my way down to heat some milk when he came in. He was either very drunk or worse" explained Maria sighing.

"Probably worse, he smelled of marijuana the other morning" Troy commented.

"And just how do you know that?" Gabriella asked teasingly.

"I've never tried it if that's what you're asking but it's at a lot of the parties after games. It's hard to miss Gabi" Troy said honestly.

"Obviously not that hard. Is that why you're in such a hurry to leave sometimes?" Gabriella asked shaking her head at her obliviousness.

"Yeah Dad would bench me if I came home smelling of it whether I'd been smoking or not" Troy said.

"That doesn't sound very fair" Maria commented mildly.

Troy shrugged "Dad says it's a peer group thing if I hang around it long enough I'll be pressured into trying it. And second hand smoke is just as bad for you" Troy explained.

"I agree with both those arguments and he'd be right to ground you. But it isn't fair to bench you when the other players can't be benched for something your Coach wouldn't know if he wasn't also your father" Maria said still concerned with the unfairness of Jack's actions.

Troy grinned "Grounding me never worked very well until I met Gabriella all my socialising was at basketball practice anyhow."

"I'm certainly not going to criticise Jack and Lucille's parenting skills. Whatever they did worked whether I think it totally fair or not. You've grown into a fine young man Troy" Maria said choosing to discontinue the argument. She chuckled as Troy blushed at the complement.

"So what caused the argument?" Troy asked turning the conversation back to its original topic.

"We met Eden's Basketball coach while we were out this afternoon and hearing that Jack also coaches High School basketball they got talking shop, he had some very blunt comments about Eden's behaviour. Apparently Eden does have the talent to be a starter if it wasn't for his attitude. Rob didn't like it when Jack agreed with selecting the team like that. Worse Jack and the other coach Hank really hit it off and we'd already arranged to meet them for dinner before Eden's attitude and behaviour came up."

"So Sandra and Rob are upset that Dad still wants to go" Troy guessed.

"Very. And I'm sure your father would have cancelled if Sandra hadn't..." Lucille trailed off not sure she wanted to tell Troy what Sandra had said.

"Sandra blamed me for Eden's attitude" Troy said resignedly "You don't need to stress about telling me, she always has"

"She seemed to think that you're arrogant about your skills and he's just copying your attitude" Maria admitted.

"Troy's not at all arrogant, and he works hard to be as good as he is he should be proud of what he's achieved" Gabriella protested.

"You don't need to get angry Gabriella Jack, Lucille and I all agree with you" Maria tried to pacify her daughter.

"So we have an evening of playing Basketball boy for a coach friend of Dad's and dirty looks from Rob and Sandra again. Lovely" Troy said sarcastically. Gabriella was reminded of her first day at East High how Troy had complained of always being seen as the Basketball guy instead of as himself.

"It won't be that bad Troy, we can talk of other things, and it beats eating here with Rob and Sandra after an argument like that" Gabriella tried to reassure him.

"True. And you never know there might be a dance floor" Troy suggested smiling at the thought.

Gabriella smiled at this return of Troy's natural optimism. "I guess we'd better go and get changed" she said.

"Let's check with Mom and Dad first, to find out what the plans are" Troy said practically.

They said good bye to Maria and knocked lightly on Jack and Lucille's door "Mom, Dad may we come in?" Troy asked quietly.

Jack answered the door "Troy, Gabriella I guess you want to know what's going on?" he asked them.

"We spoke to Maria, she said we're going out for dinner with Eden's coach" Troy replied.

"Yes we originally planned for all of us to go but it will just be the five of us and Hank and his wife, son and daughter."

"Okay but don't expect me to talk basketball all night and ignore Gabriella"

Lucille smiled at Troy's good intentions. She knew from experience that Jack would probably succeed in turning every conversation towards basketball and hoped that Hank's wife had interests other than Basketball.

"How dressy is this restaurant?" Gabriella asked Lucille.

"I've no idea. I was going to ask Sandra but..." Lucille shrugged "Sandra did suggest the restaurant so probably pretty upmarket" she added knowing her friend's taste.

"Well I better go and see if I can salvage the dress I wore last night" Gabriella said doubtfully.

"Bring it down and I'll iron it for you" Lucille offered.

"Thanks" Gabriella went to get her dress and Troy's shirt but for once Troy didn't follow her up there.

"Maria said that the argument was about me" Troy said wanting clarification.

Lucille sighed and nodded. "I think we might owe you an apology Troy. She brought up a lot of things from the past that we'd let you get in trouble for as the older of the two that when put all together like Sandra did today seemed very unfair and unlike the Troy we know. So I'm sorry for all the times we punished you without listening to your side of the story when in hindsight Eden, Rob and Sandra's version was probably more than a little biased."

"I'm sorry too Troy. I knew you didn't really like coming here but I never realised why" Jack added.

"I'm curious though why you never made a bigger fuss or explained what was happening?"

"It's got worse as I got older and you two have relatively few friends you both really like spending time with, it wasn't important" Troy brushed it off. "This is the last time I'll come though, next year you need to make your visit while I'm in California or with Maria" he warned them seriously.

"I very much doubt we will visit next year" Lucille said firmly.

"It's that bad?" Troy asked quietly.

"It's their turn to visit us anyhow" Jack reminded his son. "And after the argument we've just had they would have to make a serious effort to change their attitude before we could accept another apology."

Gabriella returned at this point with her dress and Troy's shirt, face flushed in anger.

"What's wrong Gabriella?" Troy asked concerned.

"That little brat is glad our parents are fighting!" she exclaimed angrily.

"What did he say to you?" Troy demanded.

"He said that we would never have to see you again and that he was glad. Never have to put up with hearing about your Basketball championships and MVP awards."

"I didn't know he felt like that. His parents always make a big deal out of every rule we break or trouble we got into being my fault. They've always been very judgemental to everyone except Eden when I'm around" Troy said thoughtfully.

"They wouldn't be the first parents to treat their child differently when no-one else is around" Jack told him.

Troy nodded and let the subject drop.

Lucille took the clothing and began ironing. She was soon finished and the younger Boltons went upstairs to dress.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, JesselyricsR5 and iminlove13 for your support.


	97. Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Dinner was very much like Lucille and Troy had feared it would be. Hank and Jack had attempted to monopolise the conversation with Basketball, and Hank's wife Mary was quiet and shy contributing little.

Maria, Lucille and Gabriella tried to draw her in with several different topics discussed but she seemed more interested in listening to Jack and Hank talk basketball. Jack had introduced Troy as his captain and MVP award holder and Hank was busy grilling Troy about his training regimen and how he felt about having a father for a coach. It seemed that Hank had a son who was in his last year of junior high and was worried about the effect coaching him would have on family dynamics.

"Having Dad for a coach has been great though he pushes me a little harder than anyone else. The worst part was Dad being at school all the time. The other teachers would tell him about every thing I did, he'd hear all the rumours about things that happen at parties and stuff. It's good that we get along as well as we do because I have no real privacy from him."

"This complaint from the son who managed to arrange an entire wedding without me knowing anything about it" Jack said sarcastically.

"Yeah even that would have been a lot less nerve racking if you hadn't been at school that week" Troy shot back. "Do you know how hard it is to find time to organise a whole wedding and still practice three times a day so you wouldn't start wondering what I was up to. Not to mention keep up with my homework because otherwise my teachers will tell you I'm behind." Put like that Jack could see Troy's point. It wasn't fair that his colleagues brought up Troy's performance in their classes in the staff room but it did happen in spite of his trying to discourage them from doing so.

"Troy organised the wedding. I thought that was the bride's job?" Mary said surprised.

"Troy had most of it organised before he proposed and the rest was a surprise for me" Gabriella explained. "I thought we'd just have a registry office ceremony but Troy organised the church and the minister, flowers, photographer, even a cake" Gabriella explained smiling at the memory.

"Did you have a reception?" Mary asked not aware this was a sore point with both Lucille and Maria.

"Not really, just pizza while we explained what was going on to our friends" Gabriella replied still smiling.

"Explained to your friends? What do you mean?"

"We invited our friends at the last minute and promised to explain why we were getting married after the wedding if they went along with it."

"And your friends agreed to this?" Mary asked shocked.

"What can I say; we have the best friends anyone could wish for. They could see it was important to us so they supported us" Gabriella said happily.

Troy looked over and smiled to see Gabriella so happy. He tried to join her conversation but was prevented by the need to answer Hank's questions about his college offers.

There was a small area set aside for dancing though nobody was using it and low background music. They finished their main course, Jack and Hank were still talking Basketball, Hank's children had disappeared into the playroom and conversation was flagging among the women. Lucille Maria and Gabriella normally found plenty to talk about but the effort of including Mary was putting a strain on things. Troy had had enough, he stood up and held his hand out to Gabriella. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

Gabriella looked at the tiny empty dance floor and knew that they would attract a lot of attention not all of it positive, but the idea of dancing with Troy was very appealing.

Gabriella smiled and put her hand in Troy's "Excuse me" she said to her mother letting Troy help her to her feet.

She closed her eyes as they slow danced for several songs.

"We're ready to order dessert" Lucille interrupted their dance. "Did you want anything?"

"Can you order me something chocolate?" Gabriella requested.

"Sounds good me too please" Troy added.

Lucille laughed as the two of them resumed dancing, their eyes only on each other.

Watching them Maria wondered I they were aware they were the centre of attention, she doubted it they seemed to be totally in their own world. Seeing them like this made her heart give thanks to God that they had found the consent form and eloped.

Troy and Gabriella arrived back at the table blushing brightly as they noticed how many people had been watching them dance. Instead of the desserts they expected to find there were two take away containers in their places at the table.

Troy looked enquiringly at his mother. "We finished dessert some time ago. The two of you looked to content to disturb" Lucille explained.

"I'm sorry" Troy said looking at their guests "I didn't mean to be gone so long"

"I hope we haven't inconvenienced you" Gabriella added softly.

"Not at all it's lovely to see newlyweds so in love" Mary replied smiling.

Gabriella blushed and they said farewell to Hank and Mary and their children.

Troy swiped a couple of spoons from the kitchen while Gabriella was in the bathroom and they sat on the bed sharing their desserts.

"I should go back downstairs and clean my teeth" Gabriella commented idly as she finished eating.

"Yeah" Troy agreed lying back on the bed in just his boxers. Instead of getting redressed he handed Gabriella a bottle of water from his gym bag. "Rinse your mouth out with this" he suggested. He chose a song on his phone "Dance with me" he asked.

Gabriella moved happily into his arms and they swayed slowly to the music. The slow songs came to an end and Troy shut off the music before helping Gabriella unzip her dress.

He unfastened her bra and slid the straps down her arms. Gabriella looked at him self-consciously. "Troy" she said uncertainly.

Troy looked at her face and saw the effort it was taking her not to cover herself from his gaze. He brought his hands up to gently massage her breasts. "You look so beautiful" he said huskily lowering his head to kiss his way slowly down her neck and towards her cleavage.

Gabriella shivered with desire but in the back of her mind was the knowledge of how sore she'd been that day.

"Troy" she protested half-heartedly.

"Hmm" Troy murmured without lifting his head.

"Troy I.." she hesitated.

"What's wrong Gabriella?" Troy asked lifting his head and wrapping his arms around her pulling her close.

"I'm still a little sore" she mumbled but Troy heard her clearly.

"I hurt you" he whispered heartbroken.

"No Troy, it isn't your fault. I was just as enthusiastic as you were this morning. I didn't realise until afterwards that maybe it was a bit much." Gabriella tried to reassure him.

"I never meant to hurt you" Troy said sadly.

"Troy you didn't hurt me. This morning was wonderful and that last time was initiated by me remember. You gave me the choice and I chose to have sex. I was too horny at the time to consider that we'd never done it more than once before and maybe a fourth time wouldn't be a good idea. Besides I'm not really hurt just a little uncomfortable" she said hugging him tightly.

Troy returned her hug then reached under the bed to grab her night shirt from where it had been shoved out of the way the night before. He pulled it gently over Gabriella's head and picked her up and carried her the two steps to lay her on the bed tucking her in.

"Troy what are you doing, come to bed" Gabriella said bemused.

Troy efficiently stripped himself to his boxers and climbed into bed clinging to the edge to give Gabriella enough room to lie without touching him. Gabriella immediately rolled over on top of him in the tiny space and cuddled in preparing to sleep. Unfortunately she hadn't realised Troy was almost hanging over the edge of the bed and her movements sent them both crashing to the floor. Gabriella landed on top of Troy.

Troy sat up and started begging Gabriella to tell him she wasn't hurt. Gabriella burst out laughing "I'm not hurt Troy" she said as she finally controlled her giggles.

"What's so funny" Troy demanded, trying to ignore what the sensation of having her lie on top of him shaking with laughter was doing to his hormones.

"I pushed you out of bed" she said still trying not to giggle.

Troy had to laugh at that, seeing her lying on top of him laughing. "So shall we get up and try again or just sleep here for the night?" he asked waiting for her to get up.

Gabriella rolled off him and got to her feet turning away from him. As she'd rolled she had become aware of his erection pressing into her stomach and she could still see it tenting his boxers in her mind from the quick glance as she got up.

Troy climbed back up and settled himself in the middle of the small bed "I think you lying on top is the only way we really fit" he said quietly when he saw her hesitate to get back into bed.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled.

"What's that?" Troy asked.

"I said I'm sorry" she mumbled again.

This time Troy understood the words though he was confused as to what she was apologising for.

"What's wrong Gabi?"

"That" she said gesturing to his erection.

"What about it?" Troy asked confused.

"..." she looked at him.

"Don't worry about it Gabriella" he said matter-of-factly.

"But..."

"It's fine Gabi" he interrupted her protests.

"Are you going to be able to sleep like that?" Gabriella asked.

Troy shrugged avoiding answering the question. "Get into bed Gabriella, I'll sleep when I'm ready"

Gabriella climbed into bed "I could help with..." she offered.

"I's okay Gabriella get some sleep" he reassured her knowing how tired she'd been all day.

Gabriella was right it did take Troy a long time to calm down enough to sleep especially with his sexy wife lying pressed to his side."

A/N: thank you to Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, iminlove13, Jenate, Kiara, Wildcats2016 and angelgirl00 for your support.


	98. Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy woke early the next morning after a fitful night sleep and more than one near miss experience with a wet dream. He seriously didn't feel like getting up to run but knowing that he'd be spending most of the day sitting in the car and would regret it if he didn't forced himself out of bed.

"Gabriella" he called kissing her gently.

"What is it Troy?" she asked sleepily.

"Come and shut the stairs after me" Troy said pulling on his running gear.

Gabriella winced at the noise the stair-ladder made being lowered and again being pulled up, knowing that waking Sandra and Rob would make an already tense situation worse. She winced again returning to the room to see that it was barely five o'clock.

Troy didn't invite his father to run with him, not only was it too early but Troy had some thoughts to work through and emotionally that meant he didn't want to talk or to have to moderate his pace. He went out hard trying to work off the tenseness from having been aroused all night and the anger at himself for hurting Gabriella even though intellectually he knew Gabriella had been right when she'd said it wasn't his fault.

He ran hard and farther than he and Jack had run on New Year's Eve, running nearly seven mile before he forced himself to turn back and return at a slightly slower pace. He arrived back at the house exhausted and dripping with sweat. Jack and Lucille looked at him with shock when he entered the kitchen to refill his water bottle before heading to the shower. Troy looked more like he'd played a hard championship game than gone on a training run.

"What's the matter Troy?" Lucille asked concerned. "Surely you and Gabriella didn't fight?"

"Nah just had some stuff to think about" Troy replied.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Lucille asked. Jack also looked like he was interested in talking though figured Troy would have invited him to run if he'd wanted to talk.

"No I'm fine Mama" Troy said smiling at his mother's concern.

"How far did you run anyhow?" Jack asked as Rob walked in behind Troy.

"About 14 or 15 mile" Troy said nonchalantly as if it was normal.

"That's some serious thinking" Lucille commented.

"I need to get a shower" Troy said edging out of the kitchen.

"I think Maria's in there honey" his mother said.

Troy shrugged, "I'll wait outside, I'm too sweaty to sit down in here."

"He really ran 14 mile?" Rob asked astonished.

"If he said he did, he did" Jack said firmly.

"I'm impressed, no wonder he looks exhausted."

"No, he could easily run 15 mile at a reasonable pace without coming back sweaty and panting like that. He looks like he really pushed himself the whole way" Jack said.

"Why would he do that?" Rob asked.

"Usually because he's angry or trying to punish himself for something" Jack replied worried about his son.

"You think he and Gabriella had a fight, or do you think it was because of what happened with us yesterday?" Rob asked apologetically.

"He was fine last night" Jack said looking to Lucille for confirmation.

Lucille nodded "It certainly didn't look like he and Gabriella were having problems either" she commented smiling at the memory of the two of them dancing.

Maria entered the kitchen and Jack immediately went to tell Troy the shower is free.

"Good morning everyone. Is something wrong?" Maria asked looking at Jacks frowning retreat.

"Not really, Troy's waiting outside for the shower to be free. Jack just went to let him know" Lucille explained smiling at her friend.

Jack found Troy outside redoing his stretches.

"Run a bit too far?" he asked cheerfully.

Troy shrugged "I guess it wouldn't have been if I hadn't tried to sprint the way out" he admitted.

"Seriously Troy, what's wrong? Did you and Gabriella fight?"

"No nothing like that I just didn't sleep well and woke up feeling cantankerous. It was best to run it out of my system" Troy smiled at the concern his father was showing.

"So long as it worked" Jack commented. "I came out to tell you the shower's free."

"Thanks Dad" Troy said getting up to shower.

Troy stood in the hallway shouting up to Gabriella to get her to let the stair ladder wrapped in his towel down after showering.

Sandra came out and began to scold him for waking her up for the second time that morning.

"I'm sorry Sandra but the sound of the ladder would have woken you anyway" Troy apologised.

"I don't know why you didn't leave it down the first time" Sandra grumbled.

"And leave the way clear for that little trouble maker of yours to try and prank Gabriella while she was sleeping? Not likely!" Troy retorted.

"He would never..."

"He would, he's always liked to cause trouble" Troy replied not believing Sandra didn't know that about her son. He turned away from Sandra and called out again "Gabriella"

Gabriella woke this time and hurried to let the stair-ladder down thinking from the frustration in Troy's voice that he must have been calling for some time.

Troy marched up the stairs and Gabriella seeing his expression started to apologise. "I'm sorry I was asl..."

Troy muffled her words with a fierce kiss gentling after the first moments.

"I'm sorry Gabi, I'm not mad at you. Sandra came out and started telling me off as I was waiting and we got into an argument" troy explained when they had to stop and draw breath.

"So you were standing in the hallway wrapped in a towel and she came out and started scolding you?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"Yeah, about the noise, and then about not trusting Eden enough to leave the stair-ladder down" Troy explained.

"You got up really early, much earlier than normal to run?" Gabriella commented enquiringly.

"Yeah I kept waking up and I couldn't get back to sleep" Troy explained.

"It's barely light out now. You must have gone running in the dark"

Troy nodded "I stuck to the roads with streetlights" he reassured her.

Gabriella felt guilty Troy had slept so badly that he'd got up to run more than two hours before dawn and she'd not even noticed.

"Was it because of..." she asked.

Troy looked at her confused.

"Were you too aroused to sleep?" Gabriella whispered blushing.

Troy blushed too but decided to answer honestly "Yeah" he admitted turning away and dropping the towel to start to dress.

Gabriella came around so he was facing her, a quick glance showed he that the problem was no longer an issue. "I'm sorry" she said hugging him.

"It's fine Gabriella" he said "we need to get moving, everyone else will be nearly ready to leave"

They both dressed quickly and packed the few items they had out. They'd found it easier not to unpack as the room didn't have a wardrobe and keeping everything in their bags was the only way they weren't tripping over stuff. Carrying their bags they lowered the ladder and went down to breakfast.

Gabriella ate quickly then left to bring down the rest of their stuff while Troy served himself a second plate. By the time Troy had finished eating the cars were packed and everyone else was ready to leave.

Troy put his plate in the sink and joined Gabriella.

"Who's driving the first shift?" he asked.

"Your mother and I" Jack replied. "Are the two of you going to ride with me?" he asked.

Troy looked at Gabriella who nodded and put her carry bag and Troy's backpack into the back seat.

Rob and Sandra came out and stiffly said goodbye wishing them a safe journey.

"See you at Lordsburg" Lucille said kissing Jack on the cheek before getting in the car and pulling out.

Jack drove quietly until they got out of the city, "Do you want to drive for a bit?" he asked Gabriella.

Gabriella looked across at Troy who was sound asleep with his arms wrapped around her and grinned. "Maybe later he didn't sleep well and I don't want to wake him" she said quietly.

Jack smiled knowing that whatever had driven Troy to run like he was being chased by demons that morning had been sorted out.

It was a slow journey thanks to road works and it was nearly four hours after they left Rob and Sandra's before they arrived at Lordsburg and pulled up next to Maria and Lucille. Troy didn't stir and Gabriella chose to stay put so the others purchased sandwiches and cold drinks in a insulated bag for when Troy woke up and finishing their coffee quickly got back on the road.

"I missed Troy telling us what there is to do here" Maria said as she edged Lucille's car back onto the road.

"There's quite an interesting ghost town Troy used to like but it's only open once a month now" Lucille told her.

"A ghost town doesn't sound very energy burning" Maria said knowing that pit stops were usually chosen to let Troy run around so he would be able to sit still for the next leg of the journey.

"Not the way you would visit a ghost town it isn't but Jack and Troy used to run around pretending to hold up the other tourists, or protect the town from bandits" Lucille said reminiscently.

Maria laughed. "I almost envy you these roadside adventures. Usually when we travelled it was to move because of my job and Gabriella would sit with her headphones on and sulk most of the time."

"It can't have been easy for both of you moving so frequently" Lucille said sympathetically.

"At least now we don't have to hide from Alejandro I will be able to settle down once I finish this job in Mexico" Maria said enthusiastically.

"Any idea where you'd like to settle"

"I'm hoping to find something in California, close enough to visit the kids occasionally or for them to be able to come to me if they need to. If not either back in Albuquerque or somewhere between the two."

"I'd love you to come back to Albuquerque" Lucille said "and not only because it would encourage Troy and Gabriella to visit more often, I will miss you while you're in Mexico."

"I will miss you and Jack as well. It isn't often I've made friends as good as you. Mostly it was very lonely moving all the time. Gabriella wasn't the only one who had started to think the pain of leaving friends behind was worse than the loneliness of not making any in the first place"

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Siobhan, lover891127, Wildcats2016, iminlove13, JesselyricsR5, Kiara and PrisonarToYourLove for your support and to the other 139 people for reading.


	99. Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They stopped for a late lunch at T or C, Troy had woken up about half an hour before they stopped and had demolished the sandwiches they'd bought for him at Lordsburg but was still starving and starting to feel quite stiff after sleeping in an awkward position for so long after his long run that morning.

Seeing this Jack knew that they would have to make a longer stop for Troy to work some of the kinks out of his body if he was going to drive the next leg of the journey safely.

They stopped for a leisurely lunch then surprised Troy by accepting his suggestion to visit Elephant Butte Dam. The state park was beautiful though a little cold at this time of year to be out on the water. Instead the adults chose a gentle stroll along the lake bank while Troy and Gabriella chose a more challenging hiking trail.

"I can't believe he ran almost 15 mile this morning and we still need to stop and let him get some more exercise" Lucille complained laughingly.

"I think it's probably because of this morning. He slept in the car and woke up stiff and sore. He didn't complain but you could see it was hurting him to move when he got out at T or C" Jack explained.

"Gabriella's been such a good influence he hasn't complained about the car at all this trip" Lucille said smiling at Maria.

"He has also grown up I almost don't recognise the stories you tell of the hyperactive little boy that needed to stop for an adventure every couple of hours. He's a fine man, and a very self disciplined man at that" Maria reminded them.

Troy and Gabriella met up with the others and they turned back to walk along the shore Gabriella teasing Troy about not being allowed to dive into the lake.

"It's freezing, surely he wouldn't want to" Maria said laughing.

"This will be the first time we've been here that he hasn't" Lucille replied, "As I said Gabriella is a good influence"

"You mean he would normally strip off and jump in the lake in front of all these people?" Gabriella asked horrified.

"No he usually jumps in fully dressed, when he was little he'd go in with his shoes coat and all. At least he's taken them off the last few years" Lucille said laughing.

"That's because last time he wore them into the water you made him strip off all his wet clothes and walk back up to the car and travel home naked, and refused to let him put on the car heater" Jack pointed out. "At least after that he'd have his coat to put back on."

"How old was he?" asked a shocked Maria.

"Eight" Jack said at the same time as his wife said "Old enough to know better"

Troy's face and neck were scarlet with embarrassment by this time.

"How did you know about Troy going into the lake Gabriella?" Lucille asked sure that Troy hadn't told her.

"I... I didn't..." Gabriella stuttered, not wanting to tell the other's about their trip to the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens the day after they were married.

Maria and Lucille looked at Gabriella disbelievingly; she too was now blushing fiercely and refused to say any more.

"Gabriella was only teasing, it's an old joke any time we're near the water" Troy defended his wife.

"No doubt because you've done something stupid in a river or lake in the past" Lucille said dryly. "I'm surprised you never joined the swim team."

Troy shrugged "Their training clashed with Basketball practice" he replied. "We should get back on the road it's getting late."

Unfortunately they were delayed behind a major car accident not long after they set off and had to double back and detour on the back roads which were in surprisingly poor condition, and then again by road works once they rejoined the highway. After three hours they had completed only half of what they had expected to be little more than a two hour journey and decided to stop for dinner at the Bodega Burger Co. in Socorro.

"Any amusing activities to do here Troy?" asked Maria.

"We never stopped here when travelling, it's too close to home. I've been here to play Basketball though. This is where the Warriors come from. The Magdalena Mountain Ropes course is near here, it's a lot of fun and there's some good mountain bike trails."

The food was good though the place was busy and the service a bit slow. After eating they got back onto the road and headed home, Lucille and Jack driving the final stretch which was thankfully uneventful.

They arrived at the Bolton's and Troy and Gabriella headed straight upstairs to bed, Troy detouring via the pantry to grab some snacks to take upstairs. He arrived in the upstairs hallway to find that Gabriella had closed his door on him. After a moment's thought he knocked hesitantly.

"Who is it?" Gabriella called softly.

"It's me Troy" he answered equally softly.

"Come on in" she called.

Troy entered the room cautiously to find Gabriella already in bed. "Are you okay Gabi?" he asked concerned.

"I'm fine Troy, shut the door" Gabriella ordered.

Troy shut the door and walked over to sit on the side of the bed.

"Gabriella?" he asked pushing the quilts back a bit to see her face. "I brought some crisps and some apples do you want something?" he asked.

Gabriella sat up the quilt falling to her waist exposing her semi naked breasts in a lacy red bra. "I'll take an apple" she said.

Troy handed the apple over "I'm still allowed to look right?" he asked unable to drag his eyes away.

"I'd prefer you look me in the face while I'm talking but yes Troy, if I didn't want you to look I would have put on a shirt. Aren't you going to eat something?" she reminded him.

"Huh?... Oh yeah" Troy took a bite of apple chewing mechanically.

"You are such a boy" Gabriella teased laughing at him.

"Does this mean you're feeling better, you know...?"  
"Yes Troy it does"

"It's not because you feel guilty about last night? Because you know... it's okay... you don't have to..."

Gabriella finished her apple and got out of bed to hug Troy pulling his face down into her cleavage. "I know"

All Troy's good intentions to be considerate and give Gabriella another day to recover flew out the window and he buried his face in her cleavage kissing and biting gently towards her nipple as he reached up to play with the other one with his fingers. "This is new?" he asked undoing the clasp at the front.

"Not really, I bought it the day Mom and I went wedding dress shopping I just haven't worn it until now. It's been here in the back of your drawer."

Troy thought it probably wasn't a good idea to point out that his Mom had cleaned and tidied all his drawers since he moved out but his blush gave him away."

"Your Mom would have seen it?" Gabriella asked resignedly.

"Yeah" Troy admitted. "But it's okay, soon she'll see all your stuff when we live here."

"Yes it will take some getting used to"

"Why do you think I asked your Mom to teach me to use the washing machine?"

"Will you still do our washing?"

"Of course if you want me to" Troy agreed.

Gabriella decided to put it out of her mind and began undressing Troy.

"Gabriella, I don't want to stop you but you do remember that our parents are all in the house" Troy reminded her knowing that had previously been a hard and fast rule not to do anything where their parents might hear them.

"The you will just have to be very quiet" Gabriella smirked at Troy kissing her way down his chest and biting gently at his nipples.

She stripped off his pants and reached for the condom she'd put under the pillow earlier. Rolling it on him she fell back onto the bed pulling him down on top of her. "It's your turn to do all the work" she said opening her legs to give him access.

With the condom already in place Troy didn't have the patience for foreplay, figuring this was what Gabriella wanted he pushed inside her gently glad to feel that she was already wet. He bottomed out and held still to give her time to adjust.

"Comfortable?" he asked anxiously.

Gabriella arched her back and deliberately tightened her pelvic floor muscles "Extremely" she whispered in his ear making Troy shiver.

Troy tried to keep it slow rocking gently but all too soon his control reached its limits. He began to thrust harder, with Gabriella whispering in his ear urging him on. "Gabriella I'm close" he warned.

Gabriella covered his mouth with hers kissing him passionately. She squeezed her pelvic floor again sending Troy over the edge. The feel of Troy cumming triggered her own orgasm and they moaned into each others mouths trying desperately to be quiet.

"At least this bed doesn't creak" Gabriella said as they regained their breath.

"And it's big enough for me to roll off you without falling on the floor" Troy added laughing.

"It's good to be home" Gabriella said.

"Yeah it is" Troy said grinning at Gabriella calling his bed home.

They both slept well not even hearing the others come upstairs to bed.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, iminlove13 and gleegoalie13 for your support.


	100. Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

3rd January

Troy and Jack both got up early to run the next morning, Troy to work out the remaining lactic acid build up from his overdoing it the morning before and Jack partly because he wanted to re-establish the routine of them running together when Troy was home and partly to check that his son was okay. It would have taken something serious to make Troy run like he did the day before without having planned to in advance.

They ran the shortest of their usual routes about 4 mile.

"Do you want to talk about what was bothering you yesterday morning?" Jack asked as casually as he could after the first mile.

Troy smiled "No need it wasn't anything serious I just felt like pushing myself"

"Pushing yourself or punishing yourself for something" Jack asked shrewdly.

Jack's insight surprised Troy though it shouldn't have the two of them were very alike in their reactions at times. "A bit of both" he admitted "But it's okay we sorted it out."

"And you don't want to talk about it" Jack asked still concerned.

"It's a bit personal" Troy said apologetically.

"Is it something that you can avoid happening again?" Jack asked.

"Yeah it's sorted it won't happen again" Troy reassured his father.

As they ran past the basketball courts Jack suggested, "You should call the guys and get a game going"

"Maybe tomorrow, I promised to help Maria and Gabriella get ready for the removalists coming tomorrow morning so I'll be spending the day there" Troy replied cheerfully.

"Does this have anything to do with her father?" Jack asked concerned.

"This is the one place he knows where to find them. I assume if he wants to see them he'll be here in the next few days" Troy said seriously.

"Do you want my help today as well then?" he offered wanting to be on hand to protect the girl he thought of as his daughter.

Troy thought for a moment "Ring Maria and offer I can't accept for her" he suggested gratefully.

"I'll do that."

They finished their run peacefully.

Maria as well as Troy and Gabriella had stayed with the Boltons their first night back in Albuquerque as they didn't arrive back in town until after ten o'clock and they were all too tired to unpack. Maria's house had been sold while they were away so she left early the next morning to meet with her lawyers to finalize the sale while Troy and Gabriella headed over to the house to pack up their stuff.

They quickly packed the few things Troy had left there, and Gabriella started packing her things while Troy carried the bags and boxes down stairs into his truck which he had parked in the driveway. It took several trips and most of the day for Gabriella to pack everything up and Troy was now grateful that his mother had offered her the spare room. Troy and Jack also made themselves useful by moving furniture and boxes for Maria to prepare for the removalists arrival the next day. Many of Maria's things were going into storage as she anticipated she would be in Mexico less than three months and would be provided fully furnished accommodation for that time. Troy who had never moved in his life found it fascinating and a little sad how efficiently the Montez women could transform their home into a collection of boxes and furniture awaiting collection.

Jack had just left and they had pretty much finished for the day when the doorbell rang. Troy being the only one downstairs at the time answered it to find a middle-aged Spanish looking gentleman in a very expensive suit. The man looked surprised to see Troy but recovered himself quickly and politely asked to see Maria and Gabriella. Troy had a sinking feeling in his gut that he knew who this stranger must be and he called out for Maria to come down before walking upstairs to meet them, rudely shutting the door leaving the stranger standing outside on the doorstep to give him time to warn his mother in law.

"It's a Spanish looking man about your age Maria, I think it might be Alejandro, he looks a little familiar though I'm sure I've never met him before. He's very well dressed and was polite though obviously surprised to see me open the door" Troy told her quickly.

Maria swore softly, something Troy had never heard her do before "Stay up here with Gabriella, do not let her come downstairs unless I call her and even then come with her." She hurried downstairs leaving Troy to explain things to Gabriella.

Maria was dressed in old clothes suitable for packing and cleaning out cupboards. She'd been working hard for hours and felt sweaty and messy. She cursed that fact that Alejandro had turned up unannounced to find her like this instead of in respectable business clothing or attractive smart casual wear.

The feeling only got worse when she saw the immaculately dressed (an Armani $1,000+ suit if she wasn't mistaken) and still very attractive man standing on the veranda.

Resolving to ignore the way she was dressed and to try to deal with the situation as calmly as possible she smiled stiffly and said "Alejandro, sorry to keep you waiting out here, please come in and sit down. Would you like a drink, coffee or iced tea perhaps?"

Alejandro smiled, Maria may have felt like a mess but in his eyes she was still a very attractive woman in the prime of her life, and the tightly fitting tracksuit may have been old and worn but it clung to her curves very nicely.

"Maria, it's good to see you I hope all is well?" Alejandro said politely.

"Gabriella and I are very well, please excuse the clutter, I'm being transferred to Mexico at the end of the week and we're in the middle of packing up the house" Maria explained showing him into the lounge which still had its furniture in place though everything else had been packed into boxes.

For his part Alejandro was disappointed not to see any photos of his daughter growing up, but consoled himself that he would meet her in person very soon.

"Nothing to drink thanks" he declined. "I was surprised when you didn't turn up for Christmas and the wedding" he said as mildly as he could. Alejandro might have agreed that postponing the wedding was a good idea but was still extremely angry that Gabriella and Maria hadn't even tried to talk to him about it.

"You knew all along that I was unhappy with the idea of arranging a marriage for my daughter. You and your family forced me to sign the contract" Maria reminded him. "As Gabriella got older and started having hopes and dreams for her future I simply couldn't bring myself to force her to give those dreams up."

"You could have contacted me to try to talk things through."

"I wrote to you, I told you about her dreams of going to Stanford, how she didn't want to leave her friends here, about her plans for her senior year. You sent back instructions to purchase a wedding dress and plane tickets to travel to Cuba for the wedding" Maria retorted.

"I'd hoped you would want to spend Christmas with my family" he said smoothly, deliberately still sounding more disappointed than angry.

"You know as well as I do that once we got to Cuba your word would hold sway over all of us. From there Gabriella would have no choice. Even if she'd stood in the church and refused to say the vows she still would have ended up married to a total stranger" Maria said defensively. She hated the way he was trying to make her seem the one who had behaved unreasonably.

"Eduardo is a good man. And he isn't a stranger, they got along well enough before you left me" Alejandro replied desperately trying to hold on to his temper so that she wouldn't kick him out of the house before meeting his daughter.

"She has no memory of him or you for that matter. In her opinion Eduardo's almost old enough to be her father. And a few hours here and there of a teenager indulging the child of his mentor is not the basis for marriage" Maria said firmly.

"I still think you should have let me know so I could have given the guests a little more notice of the cancellation, or better yet before the invitations went out in the first place" growled Alejandro his anger beginning to show through.

"And given you the time to find us and force us to come to Cuba, it was too big a risk" Maria argued.

Alejandro didn't want to admit that he could see her point but knew she was right, the fortune he'd spent on private investigators when they hadn't arrived as scheduled backed up her fears that if they had been found he would have used force to get them to agree with his plans.

"It's irrelevant now anyway. I'm here to cancel the contract. You win, Gabriella can marry whoever she chooses" Alejandro replied with frustration.

"And what caused this change of heart" Maria asked suspiciously.

"Well Gabriella obviously doesn't want to marry Eduardo and he doesn't particularly want to marry such a rebellious child either. He was already thinking of asking if we would agree to a postponement when you failed to arrive" Alejandro explained.

Maria was silent as she thought this over.

"Now may I meet my daughter?" Alejandro asked nervously.

"I'll just call her down" Maria replied walking over to the bottom of the stairs and calling loudly as if she couldn't see Gabriella pacing around the landing.

A/N: thank you to Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, Missjustine19 and Siobhan for your support.


	101. Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy continued on up the stairs after talking to Maria and found Gabriella in her closet. "Your Mum wants us to stay up here there's a stranger at the door asking for you, I think it could be Alejandro" Troy told her quietly.

"We can't leave Mum down there with him alone" Gabriella protested walking towards the door.

Troy caught her arm before she could leave the room "Your mum asked me to keep you up here" he explained "I know you don't want to but she said she'll call us when she wants us to come down. Let her try and have some control of the situation Gabi. We might make things worse otherwise" he said trying to hug her.

Gabriella shrugged him off and went to open her door "So we can hear if she needs our help, I don't like this Troy." She said pacing around the room and out onto the landing dragging Troy around since he refused to let go of her hand.

After ten more minutes of pacing Gabriella heard her mother call out to her to come down. Troy squeezed her hand and they hurried down the stairs until they could see that Maria and the stranger were seated calmly in the lounge. They entered the room and Troy pulled Gabriella over to sit with him on the couch, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Alejandro was shocked to see the beautiful teenage girl his daughter had become. Intellectually he knew she was sixteen and he'd seen some of the surveillance photos over the years but in his mind he still pictured her as the little girl that had left so many years ago. His eyes filled with tears at the thought of all he had missed. He blinked them away furiously determined not to cry in front of Maria. He quickly arranged his face into what he hoped looked like a confident and friendly smile. He was also surprised to find her accompanied by the boy who had answered the door only to shut it in his face, and more so that Maria didn't object to his presence.

Maria smiled reassuringly at the young couple, "Gabriella this is your father" she said deliberately not introducing Troy, "He has come to discuss cancelling the marriage contract" she said hoping to diffuse the situation before Gabriella started yelling or cursing.

"Cancelling the contract?" Gabriella asked looking at her mother and ignoring Alejandro for the moment.

"What about the default clauses?" Troy put in worried about the consequences.

Alejandro was first hurt that Gabriella totally ignored him and also a little put out that Maria brought up their private business in front of the boy, and was then shocked to find out that he already knew about the details of the contract. Just who was this boy to them?

He chose to worry about the boy later and to answer their questions before Maria could speak in the hope of making a positive impression on his daughter. "Eduardo and I were discussing the possibility of postponing the wedding even before you failed to arrive in Cuba. Given the changes in society and the fact that most of his business is now in the United States a sixteen year old bride would be more of a liability than we had considered when we signed the contract. He was therefore happy to agree to a mutual retraction of the agreement in which case none of the default clauses will be put into effect." He turned to Maria and handed her a sheaf of papers. "This is the legal paperwork for the disillusionment of the original marriage contract. As you will see Eduardo and I have both signed subject to your agreement."

Troy and Gabriella watched anxiously as Maria looked through the papers. "This all seems fine, but I would request time to read through everything thoroughly" she said finally, putting them on the table without signing.

Alejandro nodded "Yes of course." He turned to Gabriella, "I was looking forward to getting to know you again Gabriella. Maria sent me your school records and I must say they are very impressive. What are you going to major in at Stanford? And will you introduce me to your friend?"

Alejandro was surprised when instead of the answers and the introduction he had expected, all three of the people opposite him tensed and exchanged anxious glances at the last question. In truth he really wanted to know this boy who according to the private detective had been living with his wife and daughter, it was the main reason in addition to the desire to meet his daughter and get to know her that he had come to deliver the papers to his ex-wife in person rather than sending them to his US legal firm to have handled.

Gabriella instead of answering him turned to her mother "You sent him my school records? You've been in contact with him all this time?" she asked heatedly feeling betrayed. Troy's grip around Gabriella's shoulders tightened providing support but also preventing her from storming out of the room.

"No Mija! Please calm down and let me explain. I sent him you transcripts a few weeks ago after he'd contacted me with the details for the wedding. I asked him to pass the transcripts as well as a copy of your Stanford acceptance letter along to Eduardo in the hope that Eduardo would agree to let you attend Stanford. I didn't want you to have to give up all of your dreams because of the marriage your father had insisted on arranging" Maria said quickly, her eyes begging her daughter to understand.

Gabriella sighed and nodded knowing her mother had merely been trying to help.

"It was actually the transcripts that led Eduardo to asking about postponing the wedding until you had finished college" Alejandro commented.

"And you would have gone along with that? Once I finished college and grad school I'd be at least 23 years old, and the agreement would be irrelevant as I'd be too old to force into an arranged marriage" Gabriella scoffed.

"To be completely honest I hadn't even considered that you might not be willing to marry the man I'd chosen for you. It is such an established way of life, all of my cousins and nieces have accepted the marriages their parents arranged for them without questioning. Until you didn't arrive as scheduled, I'd completely overlooked the fact that growing up away from the family you would not have embraced the family traditions and may not have agreed to an arranged marriage" Alejandro confessed.

"You're dead right I won't agree I'd rather die than be forced into marriage with anyone but Troy" Gabriella replied determinedly.

"Gabriella" asked Troy concerned by the note of finality he heard in her voice. Her parents may have thought she was being overly dramatic just to make a statement to prevent her father from attempting to interfere with her relationship with Troy. But Troy knew Gabriella better than anyone else on earth and he could hear that she was telling the absolute truth. If he hadn't managed to stop this wedding Gabriella really would have attempted to kill herself. He felt chilled to the bone and wrapped his arms tightly around Gabriella burying his face in her hair trying to hide his emotions.

Gabriella felt Troy's reaction and realized that she'd given away her secret. She lapsed into silence hugging Troy's arms where they were wrapped around her trying to provide comfort without alerting her mother to the fact that Troy had believed her statement literally.

Luckily Maria misinterpreted their actions thinking that it was Gabriella that was upset and Troy who was trying to calm her down. She drew Alejandro's attention trying to give the young couple time.

"So Eduardo doesn't want this marriage either?" she asked surprised after all it had been Eduardo himself rather than his family that had first approached them about the possibility of arranging the match.

"He was prepared to go through with the wedding as an honourable man would." Alejandro said with a reproachful glare directed at Maria whom he blamed for the embarrassment of having to cancel the wedding at the last moment. "He just suggested that it may be more advantageous to wait until after Gabriella graduated college. Eduardo was very impressed by the fact she received an academic scholarship to one of the best universities in the country. Even if they had married I believe he was planning on allowing her to attend."

Maria winced expecting her daughter's anger to erupt again in reaction to the idea of Eduardo 'allowing' her to accept the full scholarship she had earned. When Gabriella didn't react she glanced over at the young couple curiously seeing that they were no longer paying any attention to the conversation instead focused solely on each other.

"It's almost dinner time." She announced before reluctantly inviting Alejandro to stay. "We were going to get takeaway would you like to join us?"

Alejandro was well aware that the invitation had been extended grudgingly but was not willing to let the opportunity go. He wanted to become part of his daughter's life again. He was hoping that if he could get to know Gabriella well enough in the next few days she would agree to stay with him while her mother went to Mexico. Maria didn't know this but he was actually behind the quick sale of their house, having purchased it knowing that he had more chance of Gabriella staying with him if it also meant that she could remain in her own home close to her friends.

"Why don't you let me take the two of you out for dinner?" he replied deliberately excluding the boy who even now in this their first meeting in nearly ten years effortlessly monopolised his daughters attention.

"That's a generous offer but I only have casual clothes left unpacked, and truthfully I'm too tired to make the effort of dressing up to go out." Maria declined knowing that there was no way Gabriella would go along with an invitation that didn't include Troy, and honestly not wanting to see Troy left out either. "There's quite a good selection of takeaway food available, come and see the menus and you can choose what you would like" she said trying to draw Alejandro out of the room to give Troy and Gabriella some privacy. Alejandro followed her into the kitchen to browse through the various takeaway menus she kept in the drawer by the phone.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, lover891127, Kiara, Siobhan and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	102. Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

As soon as the older adults left the room Gabriella led Troy out of the French doors into the garden pushing him into the hammock she straddled him and hugged him for all she was worth.

Troy looked up at her, his face tight with pain "You were going to kill yourself?" he asked hoarsely.

She didn't attempt to lie "Yes Troy, I'd planned to set it up so that you'd never find out, but I couldn't bear the thought of being with anyone else, and I didn't think Eduardo would let me go to Stanford. I felt that I'd just be a prisoner in his life. I saw no reason to live like that."

Tears spilled down his face as he started to sob, Gabriella held him tightly "shh Troy... it's okay... it's not going to happen now... you saved me... I'm here... I'm safe... we're together... I won't leave you..." She kept murmuring reassurances until he calmed down.

Troy had never for a moment regretted proposing to and marrying Gabriella, convinced even when things weren't going exactly as he had hoped they'd be that the two of them would be happier together than either could ever be without each other. Now knowing what the true alternative could have been he thanked God that they'd found that permission form and that he'd had the courage to go against everything he knew his parents and friends expected of him to believe in their love and propose.

He held her tightly as if afraid to let her go, and kissed her tenderly needing to reaffirm that she was here with him.

"I love you Gabriella" he said.

"I love you too Troy" she said kissing him more passionately.

Troy felt arousal burn through his veins and he wanted to claim her to reaffirm she was here in his life. He restrained himself though because he knew they could be interrupted at any moment and having Alejandro or worse Maria catch them in the act would be beyond embarrassing especially out in the backyard.

"Gabriella" he moaned, "You need to stop that."

"I'm trying to distract you is it working?" she asked smiling.

"Too well, your Mom could come out here any minute"

Gabriella blushed and moved to lie beside Troy exposing the tent in his pants.

Troy immediately pulled her close wanting to feel the security of having her in his arms.

They lay quietly for a while enjoying the late afternoon sun each lost in their own thoughts.

"Do you think your Mom would let us take the hammock?" Troy asked trying to distract himself from the memory of Gabriella's plan.

"Sure if you've got a place to put it" Gabriella said surprised.

"I think we can find a place" Troy answered wondering if it would fit in the tree house.

"What are you thinking?" Gabriella asked suspiciously.

Troy blushed but as always decided to be open with Gabriella about his thoughts. "I'm thinking that I really would like to have sex in this hammock one day but that it's a little too open here where it is. If we could find somewhere more secluded would you be willing to consider it?" he asked hesitantly.

"We've come close before and it felt good so maybe. It depends on how secluded it is. And it would have to be a day we knew your parents would be away, and that Chad and the guys wouldn't come around looking for you" Gabriella said thoughtfully.

"So you're not horrified by the idea?" Troy asked uncertainly.

"No but I would be if we got caught" she warned him.

"I know that Gabi I have no desire to be caught either. I promise I won't ask you to risk it."

Alejandro looked dismissively at the plethora of take away brochures. Not knowing the quality of the food offered at each restaurant it was impossible for him to make an informed decision. "What does Gabriella like to eat?" Alejandro asked caring more about learning more about his daughter than the menu of the upcoming meal.

"Gabriella enjoys all of these, she most often chooses pizza lately but I think that is mostly because it is Troy's favourite and she knows he won't choose it for himself. If he was not here she would choose Chinese or Indian most often" Maria explained.

Alejandro thought for a moment before deciding. "Well I think the Chinese seems to be the safest choice then, I would like the Mongolian beef and some rice."

He was surprised to watch Maria then telephone through the order without consulting her daughter or the boy who he assumed was the aforementioned Troy though they had still yet to be introduced.

"Don't you need to ask Gabriella what she wants?" he asked.

"No I just ordered all their favourites. Troy is a typical teenage boy, he will eat practically anything in almost astonishing amounts it won't go to waste" Maria said laughing.

"Who exactly is this Troy, you didn't even ask if he was going to stay for dinner." Alejandro asked not admitting that he knew the boy appeared to have been living with them.

Maria avoided giving him an answer. "I think I'll let Gabriella introduce you, and like I said he's a teenage boy, if I provide food he'll gladly eat it, whether he has dinner waiting for him at home or not, even when he has already eaten dinner with his parents." She changed the subject and continued to make small talk asking about various family members and mutual old friends none of whom she'd seen or heard from in almost a decade.

The food arrived and while Alejandro paid the deliveryman, Maria called the young people to come in and eat hoping that she'd given them enough time to calm down. She was surprised to see evidence that they'd both been crying and quietly suggested they go and wash their hands and faces.

As they returned to the table and subduedly helped themselves to the food, Alejandro turned to them and said "Gabriella will you introduce me to your friend?"

Gabriella, after receiving a reassuring nod from her mother raised her chin and said "Troy I would like you to meet Alejandro Montez my father. Alejandro this is my husband Troy Bolton."

Alejandro had stood and held his hand out to Troy at the start of the introduction, and Troy quickly shook hands before the meaning of Gabriella's last statement hit the older man.

"Husband?..." Alejandro spluttered "How on earth did that happen? And when did that happen?" When the investigator hadn't contacted him to confirm the rumour of his daughter's marriage he had assumed it had been false and promptly dismissed it from his mind.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5, Kiara, Siobhan, iminlove13 and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	103. Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

After a few moments stilled in shock he turned to Maria and said almost angrily "This means that you violated the marriage contract before it was withdrawn. I hope for your sake Eduardo never learns of this"

"They eloped. I knew nothing about it until two days later." Maria retorted dryly.

"And you accept this marriage?" He asked incredulously.

"By the time I found out there was nothing you or I could have done even if I wanted to. This is America marriages cannot be annulled here just because there is a pre-existing marriage contract made by one of their parents. But yes I do accept it. They are in love, and are happy together. Troy takes very good care of Gabriella and I'd much rather she be married to him than to a man she doesn't even remember. And what's more we have only ourselves to blame. If we hadn't arranged a marriage for Gabriella then they would not have even considered getting married so young. They did this to avoid the marriage contract." Maria replied firmly.

"What is your problem?" Gabriella jumped to her feet and yelled at the man she wasn't sure she wanted to call father. "You were perfectly willing to marry me off to someone I didn't even know. And now you're objecting to me marrying the man I love. You're unbelievable."

"Eduardo is a good friend of mine. He would have treated you well. And he is capable of providing for you. Can you say the same about this teenager. He hasn't even a home of his own" Alejandro replied tersely shocked at his daughter's questioning his judgement, none of his nieces would ever have behaved so disrespectfully. He looked to Maria expecting her to rebuke and punish her daughter for the outburst.

Troy seeing that Gabriella was about to completely lose her temper and perhaps say something she would later regret took and squeezed her hand in support and spoke up before his wife could. "I do have a home sir. And Gabriella is welcome to live there. We have been staying with Maria because she will be leaving soon and I know that Gabriella and her mother wanted to spend as much time as possible together before she left." Troy stood also and took Gabriella into his arms looking down into her eyes hoping that she would understand and let him do the talking until she calmed down.

"And can you provide for my daughter? What prospects do you have?" Alejandro demanded.

"As I said Gabriella is welcome in my home. My parents adore her. We will stay with them until the end of the school year."

"And after that? Can you send my daughter to Stanford?" Alejandro continued to challenge.

"No not alone I can't, but Gabriella and I both have scholarships and mine comes with full accommodation for both of us within half an hour from Stanford. We will have no tuition costs and my scholarship also covers my books and travel expenses for basketball and a living allowance. We both have college funds and I'm sure that we will manage somehow." He smiled at Gabriella who had snuggled into his shoulder in silent agreement.

Alejandro had to admit he was impressed; the boy had stood his ground and not backed down, and done so without being impolite or losing his temper. And who truly did have a plan for supporting his daughter to fulfil her ambitions.

"What do you intend to study?" He asked easing off the interrogation.

"Drama for certain and I'm not sure what else maybe Education." Troy answered releasing Gabriella and leading her back to sit at the table.

"Acting's not a very secure career" Alejandro criticised his choice.

"Neither is basketball but I figure that they are worth a shot. I really love both and if I can't make a career out of one or the other I could always teach drama or PE and coach basketball and still make a living doing what I enjoy even if I never make a fortune."

"And how will you cope if your wife earns a lot more than you do? Many men have serious self esteem problems in that situation" Alejandro asked seriously.

"Well Mum's always earned a lot more than Dad so I'm kind of used to the idea. And I know I will never be anywhere near as smart as Gabriella and that doesn't bother me so I don't see how her earning more money would be a problem as long as I earn enough that she doesn't have to actually provide me with an allowance." He turned and winked at Gabriella who giggled at the thought of Troy asking her for pocket money so that he could afford to take her out on a date.

"Your father's okay with earning less than his wife?" Alejandro asked surprised, his pride would never have allowed him to tolerate such a situation.

Troy shrugged "Yeah I think so. He's never indicated otherwise. Dad loves his job coaching the team, I know he could probably earn more doing something else if it was important to him. My parents have always told me that it is more important that you enjoy your work and do the best job you can at it than how much money you make as long as basic expenses are covered"

"I can't picture Jack ever wanting to do anything else" Maria agreed lightly before changing the subject, "How is the packing going you two? She asked.

Gabriella answered, "All of Troy's things are done and all my school stuff and summer clothes. I just need to pack up my current clothes and all my pictures and other stuff and work out what I should put in storage and what I will want. And to pick up the stuff that's at Aunt Ginevra's, but I know all of that is to come to Troy's."

"You know you can take all of it and redecorate my room if it makes you feel more at home?" Troy reminded her.

"I don't want to take away your room Troy." She replied smiling at his generosity.

"It's okay, I haven't changed it since I was ten so it's time it was updated a bit anyway. I don't need to be so completely surrounded by basketball paraphernalia. There is more to my life now and our room should reflect both our lives not just one small part of mine. And you'll have the room mum cleared for you to keep stuff in as well. We could even repaint if you like."

"It's probably not worth repainting when we leave for college in six months and I quite like the blue colour of your walls. I would like to replace your quilt cover with mine though if that's okay. And maybe put away some of the older trophies and posters, and get rid of most of the orange."

Troy laughed "you don't like sleeping in a basketball?" he asked pretending shock.

Gabriella and Maria laughed but Alejandro sat silently trying not to frown at the idea of his daughter living with this boy and his family.

"Your quilt is warmer than mine so you'll be more comfortable using it anyway" he agreed. "I'll offer the posters to Chad and the guys I know they used to want them. I'd like to keep last year's championship trophy out, and this year's too if we win but I can put away all the rest and we have a lot of the same pictures already so there should be room for whatever else you want to have out. I've emptied out half my wardrobe so you can keep some of the clothes you wear all the time in there and put the rest in the other room if that's okay. And your desk and stereo I thought you could put in the other room so you've got someplace quiet to study when you want to get away from me. Mum said we could paint that room too if you want to."

"I doubt I'll spend enough time in there to warrant repainting, though it will be good to have my own space for when my friends come over"

"Your friends are welcome anywhere in the house Gabi, you don't have to entertain in the spare room. Mum's always been happy to have the guys over, she'll be thrilled to have other girls in the house for a change. And Mum would be glad to help you redecorate she enjoys that sort of thing. She's always been a bit disappointed with me and Dad that we're not interested in renovating and stuff. She'd love it if you asked her for help. I'll help paint too just please don't ask me to choose colours."

Gabriella smiled "Maybe I will then I don't remember if I've even been in the spare room, what colour is it?" she asked noncommittally.

Troy frowned "Some sort of pinky colour but not the sort of pink Sharpay would wear" he said uncertain how to describe it.

Gabriella and Maria laughed at Troy's less than enthusiastic description. "You are such a boy Troy. It sounds like painting might be a good idea I'll wait and decide after I've actually seen the room" Gabriella said knowing that Lucille had very good taste and the room probably looked quite a lot nicer that Troy made it sound.

Maria watched them come to a compromise with a smile. It was good to see them both willing to respect the other's needs and opinions.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, JesselyricsR5 and iminlove13 for your support.


	104. Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters.

After the meal as Alejandro was about to leave he said "My mother would very much like to see you both. She was devastated when you didn't arrive for Christmas with the family."

"I would offer to invite her to come for a visit but I'm leaving for Mexico in a few days." Maria refused to feel guilty for disappointing her ex mother in law who'd never made any secret of the fact that she thought her son should have listened to her and married a local Cuban girl chosen by the family.

"Perhaps Gabriella could visit the family at Easter" Alejandro suggested mildly.

"No not without Mum and Troy" Gabriella declined forcefully still not trusting her father or the Cuban law.

Alejandro frowned at this but grudgingly agreed "They would be welcome too of course."

"I'm afraid I will be too busy to leave Mexico before the summer if then, and I had hoped that you and Troy could visit me at Easter." Maria said making it clear that she didn't want Gabriella going to Cuba without her, especially as she had previously spoken to them about the possibility of them visiting her in Mexico at the start of the summer not at Easter.

"I will possibly have Basketball everyday over the first week of the Easter break, it depends whether or not we win the Albuquerque championship, we could come visit you after that though" he smiled at Maria agreeably.

"Is that likely" Alejandro asked condescendingly, angry at having his plans thwarted.

Troy nodded "Dad thinks it is. We're the reigning champions and undefeated so far this season and we have a great team this year" he said with pride for his team.

"Will the competition be in Albuquerque?" Maria asked not having heard of this before.

"No, we hosted the State Championships last year so it will be in Santa Fe this year" Troy answered.

"You competed in this last year too didn't you?" Gabriella remembered now how busy Troy had been at the start of spring break.

"Yeah we got knocked out in the semi-final last year" Troy said proudly "That's the best the teams ever done since Dad became coach."

"What happens if you win?" Maria asked.

Troy laughed "Then we have Basketball the second week of the break as well for the Midwest championship. I'm not sure where it'll be this year though it was in Oklahoma City last year, though we didn't make it."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gabriella asked sadly.

Troy looked confused "We have to win the regular season and the playoffs to get there it's too early in the season to be worrying about it yet."

"No I mean why didn't you tell me about it last year? I knew you were busy with the team at the start of spring break, but I didn't know the championship was important I thought it was just for training or something." She asked slightly upset.

Troy squeezed Gabriella's hand "I'm sorry Gabriella , at the time I didn't want you to know, I was feeling stressed about it all already and it was a relief to be able to come over and pretend that they were just regular games and nothing important. Dad was acting like winning would mean the difference between getting a scholarship or not, and I just needed to be able to get away from the pressure."

"But I gave you a hard time for not spending more time with me and I didn't come and support you." Gabriella protested.

It's okay Gabriella I know you would have come if you knew about the games, but I just needed some time away from it all and you not knowing let me have that. I'm sorry if that was selfish." He thought back and realized that the cheerleaders had given her a hard time when they returned to school after not seeing her at the championships. And that though Gabriella hadn't complained, she hadn't understood why they had suddenly become more vicious.

Gabriella hugged Troy, understanding the stress he was under from his father in the regular season must have been even worse during the state championships for him to have needed her not to know about it at all. "No I'm glad I could be what you needed, but can I come to the games this year? I can promise not to talk about Basketball the rest of the time though if you like."

"Yeah of course you can come to as many or as few as you want to, we'll be living with Dad then so you won't be able to avoid the hype totally, but I'll understand if you don't want to come every day. Promise me that you won't let anyone pressure you into thinking that you have to be there every day though" he begged her.

Gabriella laughed "I won't promise to come every day but I'll come to some of the games, I do enjoy watching you play, you know. Will we go up and stay in Santa Fe for the week or will you travel up each day?"

"Santa Fe is only about an hour from here so we won't stay the whole week it depends on the schedule. I remember going with Dad years ago, last time the team made it. If they had a late game one day and a morning game the next he'd stay over that night but he generally came home when we had an evening game the next day. Mum and I only stayed over once and went to a couple of games but Dad took me for the day if he was coming home at night. I think some of the team stayed all week though."

"Do the team stay together?" she asked wanting to know if she'd be in the way.

"Yeah some of the team will stay the whole week and treat it like a Basketball camp" Troy explained.

"So I'd be staying with your Mum and Dad on my own if I came?" Gabriella asked neutrally.

"No Gabriella if you come up I'll stay with you" he promised smiling.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with the team like one big sleepover party?" she asked not wanting to deprive him of the experience or have him stay with her because he felt obligated.

"No it's not like that, Dad's really strict about bed time and lights out" Troy said smiling.

"Your Dad won't like that if the rest of the guys are staying together. It will be bad for morale if the captain doesn't stay with the team" Gabriella warned him.

"No. Not all the team stay all week most will go home at least once or twice, and Dad won't like the way I play if I can't get any sleep without you either so he'll just have to wear it. Besides the team all know I'm married so they'll understand." Troy stated adamantly.

Gabriella smiled pleased that he really did want her to come to Santa Fe with him, and dropped the subject.

Alejandro was seriously annoyed at the turn the conversation had taken. He was disappointed that Gabriella and Maria had so quickly dismissed the idea of visiting his family and gone on to discussing other plans. He got up from the table. "Goodnight Gabriella, I'll speak to you soon about arranging a visit perhaps over the summer if spring break truly is impossible?" he said questioningly.

"Goodnight," replied Gabriella noncommittally, not knowing what to call him. She didn't feel comfortable calling him Papa or Father, but calling him Alejandro or Mr Montez to his face seemed a bit too confrontational. In truth she just wanted him to leave. She may or may not end up forgiving him but at this moment she felt overwhelmed by his sudden reappearance in her life and needed time to think things over before she could decide if she wanted to accept his apologies and make him part of her life or not. That is if his apology was actually genuine and not just an attempt to manipulate her. It would be a long time before she felt that she could trust Alejandro Montez.

"Goodnight Sir" said Troy politely.

"Goodnight Alejandro, I'll be here until the 6th of January if you need to contact me." Maria said as she rose and escorted him to the door. She breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind him. "Well I guess that went as well as we could have expected" she said to the young couple "but I'm exhausted I think I'll turn in. Can you make sure the house is locked up please Troy?"

"Sure thing Maria. Good night" he said hugging her in the same way he would his own mother. Their holiday had drawn all five of them closer together.

"Night Mom" murmured Gabriella getting up to hug her Mom and then clear the table and put the leftovers in the refrigerator.

Troy checked the doors and joined Gabriella in the kitchen as she cleaned up. Picking up a cloth to dry the dishes he said "Alejandro wasn't as angry as I thought he'd be, what did you think?"

"He was angry, though he tried to hide it. I don't trust him. He was angry the wedding was cancelled though Eduardo agreed it was for the best and he was seriously upset that I wouldn't go to Cuba for spring break. More than I would have expected him to be if it was only to visit his family" Gabriella said thoughtfully.

Troy considered what she said. "Yeah I agree, but that could have been because of the way we didn't even consider the offer made it clear that we didn't trust him or his family. Though I don't know what he could do particularly since Eduardo has also withdrawn from the betrothal, but I'll feel better when the new contract agreement is signed and Maria has confirmation that she cannot be penalised for our marriage."

"Me too" Gabriella sighed wrapping her arms around Troy and leaning her cheek on his shoulder blade.

They quickly finished tidying the kitchen and made their way upstairs to bed.

A/N: Chapter 105 is started but not finished. I'm sorry but chapters will not be daily again for a while.

Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, JesselyricsR5, Wildcats2016 and ashanti001 for your support.


	105. Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy took Gabriella into his arms. "I know you don't want to have sex with your Mom right next door but please hold me" he said miserably the fear of nearly having lost her overwhelming him again.

Gabriella looked out the window "There's no moon tonight, the garden will be almost completely dark. Do you want to go out and try the hammock?" she offered uncertainly.

Troy was tempted but he could hear that Gabriella wasn't truly keen on the idea. She had made the offer out of something other than desire but he wasn't up to worrying about her motives. "No not until we're sure your father doesn't have someone watching the house" he said touched that she'd make the offer.

"Do you think he would?" she asked surprised.

"I don't know. There's no reason for him to think we're going to try and disappear in the middle of the night but Maria's already admitted she's leaving at the end of the week so he will want to find out where you're moving to" Troy said while he undressed leaving him standing in his boxers.

"He knows I'm moving in with you" she said calmly.

"But I don't know if he knows where I live, though I'm sure with all his connections to find you every time you've moved he could find out especially now he knows my name. Besides your Mom's pretty worried and upset tonight, I wouldn't want her to check on us and find us gone" Troy pointed out.

"She won't come in here!"Gabriella exclaimed horrified at the idea.

"I'm sure she would knock first" Troy reassured her, "but she may have nightmares and need to see that you are safe. Alejandro turning up on the doorstep like he did today had to be one of her worst fears come true."

Gabriella nodded and pulled one of Troy's shirts over her pyjamas. Troy laughed and pulled it back off. Gabriella she's your mother she bought you those pyjamas and I'm sure she's seen you in them before. If you want me to wear a shirt I will but you're being ridiculous" he said pulling the shirt over his own head.

Gabriella pulled it back off him and dropped it on the floor, "You're right, we don't need this" she said, climbing into bed and holding the quilt up invitingly.

Troy climbed in beside her and took her into his arms. It was a long time before either of them slept.

Gabriella woke about two hearing Troy sobbing in his sleep.

"Troy Troy wake up" she said anxiously shaking his shoulder.

"Gabi" Troy cried still asleep.

"Troy Wake up. I'm here Wake up Troy"

Troy sat up in a panic accidentally knocking Gabriella back onto the bed "Gabriella" he called.

"I'm here Troy" she said sitting up and putting her arms around him.

"Gabriella I love you" he said still sobbing.

"Shh Troy I'm here, I love you, I'm not going anywhere, I'm yours Troy" she whispered rocking him gently.

Gradually Troy calmed down. "I'm sorry Gabriella" he said.

"It's okay Troy. Everyone has nightmares sometimes and this was my fault. I never intended you to know about that Troy"

"That hurts too, that you were keeping secrets from me" he said quietly.

"It wasn't a secret it was the beginning of a plan that never had to be finished. Once you proposed the plan was history. I never even thought about it again" she tried to explain.

"I promise Troy it was a plan born of total desperation I will never feel like that again"

"It would kill me to lose you Gabriella"

"You aren't going to lose me Troy. It would kill me to let you go"

Troy lowered his head to hers and kissed her gently. "I love you Gabriella" he said lying back down.

He slowly fell asleep with Gabriella sprawled on top of him holding her tightly. Gabriella lay awake for the rest of the night watching him sleep.

Saturday 4th January

Troy woke early and got up to run trying not to disturb Gabriella who he didn't realise was still more awake than asleep. Needing to talk to someone he drove over to wake Jack up to run with him.

"Troy! What are you doing here?" Jack asked sleepily.

"I came over to ask you to run with me" Troy said uncertainly.

Jack groaned "Is something wrong Troy?" he asked waking up as he realised that Troy's behaviour was out of character.

"Umm Yeah" Troy admitted sadly.

"Give me a minute to get dressed" Jack said getting out of bed.

"Which route you want to take?" Jack asked as he joined his son outside.

"Whichever" Troy shrugged noncommittally

"Are you going to run me into the ground?" Jack asked teasingly hoping to make Troy tease him back.

Disappointingly Troy just shrugged again.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Jack asked as they reached a fairly secluded part of the trail.

"Something Gabriella said to Alejandro last night I'm having trouble dealing with" Troy said quietly, clearly upset just thinking about it.

"What did she say?" Jack asked.

"She was gonna commit suicide" Troy blurted holding back tears.

"What!?" Jack shouted coming to a sudden stop and staring at his son.

"If Alejandro had forced her to go through with the wedding she was gonna kill herself" Troy repeated.

"And you're sure she really planned to do it, she wasn't just saying it to upset Alejandro?" Jack asked carefully.

"No she really planned to... If I hadn't found the contract and proposed she would..." Troy lost his battle and started to cry again.

Jack wrapped his arms around his son hugging him tightly as Troy completely broke down.

Jack just stood there letting Troy cry it out of his system, knowing that calming him down prematurely would probably result in another break down later when he may not be able to seek support and comfort. Troy cried until he started to heave and Jack stepped back to let Troy vomit. He took off his shirt and dampened it wiping Troy's face for him. He took care of his son silently knowing that there was nothing he could say that wouldn't make the situation worse.

Eventually Troy calmed down and Jack handed him what was left of his drink.

"Troy you need to remember that it didn't happen, that it cannot happen now. Gabriella is safe, you saved her" Jack said comfortingly.

"I know it's just..."

"It was a terrible shock for you to find out. I know but it's in the past. A situation like that isn't going to happen ever again. Talk to Gabriella Troy; let her reassure you that it's over. Let her help you put this behind you" Jack was always big on maintaining communication in relationships and considering how successful his own marriage was it was clearly sound advice. Troy resolved to find time to sit down and talk this over somewhere they wouldn't be disturbed.

They decided to abandon their run and took the shortest route home. Jack then forced Troy to sit at the kitchen bench while he fried them up a truly unhealthy breakfast.

Lucille joined them soon after frowning at her husband "Really Jack is all that cholesterol necessary" she scolded.

"Give me a break I haven't cooked a breakfast like this in ages"

"You haven't had to. Denise and Rebecca and Sandra even Troy have cooked breakfast while we were away. It's time to get back to eating healthier again" Lucille argued.

Jack winked at Troy "Yes Dear" he said in a supercilious voice trying to make Troy laugh.

Troy chuckled at his father's silliness. "That's one phrase you need to learn Troy" Jack told him winking again.

"Jack" Lucille scolded slapping him lightly "don't try to teach Troy your bad habits." She turned to Troy "insincere agreement like that doesn't benefit anyone. I am genuinely worried about your father's diet and his brushing me off like that only makes me annoyed and increasingly worried."

"I've got to get back to Gabriella" Troy stated grinning. "Give the two of you some privacy to kiss and make up."

Troy felt much better as he headed home hoping Gabriella was still asleep so he could sneak back in and cuddle.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, JesselyricsR5, Siobhan and neshrox for your support.


	106. Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella was still in bed when Troy got back to the Montez house but Troy couldn't join her because the removalists pulled into the drive as he parked in the roadside.

"Good morning" he greeted them as he unlocked the door.

"Morning" the elder of the two said while the younger one just grunted.

"Don't mind him he had a few too many last night" the cheerful removalist said cuffing his younger partner on the shoulder.

"Hey Maria, the moving people are here. Where do you want them to start?"

Maria called down the stairs "This is the company moving my things to Mexico, Troy. So it's just those boxes you put in the lounge yesterday"

"Okay guys it's these boxes here marked Mexico" Troy said showing them into the lounge.

"Any of the furniture?"

"I don't think so the place she's going will be fully furnished. You will have to ask Maria when she comes down" Troy said.

"Can you go up and wake Gabriella?" Maria asked Troy as she came downstairs. "Don't forget to tell her about the removal men" she added seeing his grin.

Troy bounded up the stairs, entered the bedroom and kissed his sleeping wife. She began responding to the kiss as she woke.

"Good morning my love. Your Mom asked me to wake you up and warn you that the first lot of removalists are here" he said smiling.

Gabriella sighed "I'd best get up then" she said tiredly.

"Didn't you sleep well?"

"I couldn't get back to sleep" she admitted.

"Back to sleep?" troy asked confused he knew he'd had several nightmares but didn't remember waking Gabriella.

Gabriella realised he didn't remember and didn't want to remind him so she brushed it off. "I woke up in the middle of the night for some reason and couldn't get back to sleep."

"If you want we could go over to my place and you could sleep there" Troy offered.

"No thanks Troy, I need to get up and get finished here" Gabriella said looking around her room.

"All our stuff will be at Mom and Dad's by tonight, should we start sleeping there or do you want to spend the last couple of days here with your Mom. Because I'm going to have to bring some stuff back if we're staying here" Troy said sheepishly.

"You mean to tell me you were too efficient with your packing" Gabriella asked amused.

"More I didn't think it through properly" he admitted.

"Yes that does sound more like you" Gabriella agreed smiling cheekily. "Will the removalists come up here?" she asked.

"They came for the boxes of stuff to go to Mexico and I think I carried them all downstairs yesterday" Troy said shaking his head.

"Good I can have a quick shower then" she said darting out into the hall to the bathroom.

Gabriella came back wrapped in a towel and entered her wardrobe shutting the door.

Troy sighed he'd hoped they had got beyond that sharing a room on holiday, but apparently it was just the lack of a walk in wardrobe to hide in.

She came out dressed and dragged him down to breakfast. "Do you want anything?" she asked.

"No thanks, Dad cooked me breakfast earlier" Troy declined still feeling full.

"Jack can cook?" Gabriella asked astonished. "I've never seen your Mom let him do anything in the kitchen."

"He cooks just fine if you don't mind risking a heart attack" Troy said sarcastically. "Mom doesn't let him cook because he fries everything in too much butter instead of low fat cooking spray. His food tastes good but even I feel like I couldn't eat any more fatty food for a couple of days after he's cooked breakfast."

"Does this mean you're going to want salad for lunch" Gabriella teased. Troy liked salad and was good about eating vegetables as well but she couldn't see him being satisfied with just salad for any meal.

"It sounds appealing at the moment" Troy agreed.

Maria put Troy to work dismantling the beds while Gabriella finished packing up her room. "Troy I'm finished can you come and move the boxes?" she called after several hours.

"Sure just give me a minute to finish this" he called back.

He carried down the boxes putting a few in with the stuff for storage and the rest in the back of his truck.

"Gabriella has finished packing her stuff, we're going to head over to Mom and Dad's and unload. Can we bring you back anything?" Troy asked Maria.

"Thanks for the offer Troy but I can't think of anything. Are you going to stop and eat with your parents or will you be back for lunch" she asked.

"Will it be easier for you if we eat with them or do you have stuff you want me to finish up?" Troy asked.

"There's some leftover Chinese if you want it but if you don't I'll eat it tomorrow. We've all been invited by Lucille tonight for dinner so I'll see you then if you're not back before then" Maria said smiling at her son-in-law.

"Do you have more jobs for me this afternoon?" Troy asked conscientiously.

"Gabriella's bed needs to be taken apart but you can do that while the removalists tomorrow bring everything down. It was just important that we brought everything to go to Mexico down this morning so nothing got forgotten"

"We'll see you later then" Troy said "Gabriella wants to get her stuff sorted before we go back to school on Monday"

"Bye Mom" Gabriella said coming down and kissing her mother's cheek.

"Are you sure about everything that you put into storage? You know you won't be able to get anything from them until I come back and settle somewhere. I hope that will be before you move to California but I cannot guarantee it will be" Maria reminded her daughter again.

"Yes Mom. The stuff for storage is mostly photos and mementoes I can live without them" Gabriella answered patiently as she had the last few times her mother had asked.

"Bye Maria" Troy said hugging her as they left.

Not long after they'd left Alejandro knocked on the door hoping to be able to talk to Gabriella alone. He'd driven past several times that day and this was the first time the old white truck was absent from the drive. He assumed the truck belonged to Troy and knew from his protective stance the night before that he had no chance of seeing Gabriella on her own if the boy was present.

Maria answered the door, "Alejandro, what brings you here?" she asked.

"I was hoping to spend some time with Gabriella, to get to know her a little" he answered smiling.

"I'm afraid she's not here, she's over at the Bolton's unpacking" Maria said cheerfully.

"The Bolton's?" Alejandro asked frowning.

"Troy's parents he and Gabriella are moving in there when I go to Mexico" Maria explained.

"I had hoped Gabriella would stay with me" Alejandro commented trying to sound casual.

"She wants to stay in Albuquerque with her friends and I would not want her to be in Cuba by herself without support" Maria refuted.

"I would be there" he said indignantly

"And who would protect her from you?" Maria asked pointedly.

"It's irrelevant anyway I have purchased a house here in Albuquerque" Alejandro stated ending the argument.

Maria gaped in shock, not knowing what to say. "Well you're welcome to make the offer for them to stay with you but I think they will probably be more comfortable with Jack and Lucille as they had arranged" she said after a moment.

Alejandro looked at Maria in shock, she'd simply assumed he intended to offer accommodation to Troy as well as Gabriella, and had insinuated that Troy would have an equal say in whether Gabriella accepted his offer or not. "My offer would not include the boy" he said stiffly.

Maria laughed incredulously "Then I very much doubt Gabriella will even consider it. I would suggest you rethink making an offer like that if you are trying to establish an amiable relationship with Gabriella then you need to accept that Troy is her husband and will be included in everything she does" Maria gave him this advice in good faith, it was as far as she was prepared to help Alejandro in building a relationship with their daughter but she did not want him to unknowingly sabotage his chances right at the beginning.

"When do you expect her back?" Alejandro asked impatient to see his daughter.

"I'm not sure the kitchens all packed up so not until after dinner" Maria replied

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" he invited graciously, if he couldn't see his daughter maybe he could learn more about her.

"I'm sorry but I already have plans" Maria told him, not mentioning that her plans consisted of an open ended invitation to eat at the Bolton's whenever she liked until she moved.

"Are you seeing somebody?" Alejandro demanded.

Maria was surprised "No" she replied truthfully "I'm about to leave the country for an indefinite time, I have friends and colleagues I wish to farewell before I go"

"So your time is pretty much taken up then?" Alejandro said sounding disappointed.

"Most of it yes, there is still a lot to organise before I go" Maria said confirming she would not have time for him any other day either.

"Well then perhaps Gabriella would like to have dinner with me tomorrow night" he suggested. "What is her favourite restaurant?"

Maria thought for a moment, she knew Gabriella and Troy's favourites but what her favourite would be without considering Troy's tastes or budget she wasn't sure. "You know I don't know you'd have to ask her" she replied.

"You don't know your daughter's favourite restaurant?" Alejandro asked surprised.

"We rarely go out for dinner and when she does it's with Troy or her friends. Their choices are very much limited by what they can all afford" she explained calmly.

"Expense is no issue" Alejandro stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm aware of that but Gabriella hasn't been to enough of those restaurants in Albuquerque to have a favourite" Maria said dryly.

"It doesn't have to be in Albuquerque, you lived in New York for a while does she have a favourite there?" Alejandro said casually.

Maria's blood ran cold. Alejandro would no doubt hire a private jet and there was no guarantee that the jet would be going to New York and returning her daughter to Albuquerque, Gabriella would be at his mercy and she might never see her daughter again. "She was too young when we were there, her favourite restaurant back then would have been the local McDonald's" Maria said dismissively.

"Well then perhaps she'd like to try one of my favourites" Alejandro said undeterred.

"Like I said you're welcome to invite her for dinner but it will be her decision whether she chooses to come" Maria said trying to wind up the conversation.

"You won't try to dissuade her?" Alejandro asked suspiciously.

"Why would I? We were hiding from you to avoid the marriage contract not because I hated you or because you were an inherently bad father or influence" Maria lied, She would do everything in her power to prevent Gabriella from ever being in a situation where Alejandro had control of their destination.

"Now I'm sorry but I really do have a lot of things I must get done today" Maria said clearly indicating the conversation was over.

"I wish you a productive afternoon then. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help" Alejandro said smoothly taking his leave.

A/N: I'm sorry but there probably won't be a chapter tomorrow.

Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, neshrox, Kiara, JesselyricsR5 and dreamsister for your support.


	107. Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Maria immediately went inside, gathered her phone and went into the middle of the house where she could be sure she wasn't observed, cursing herself for being so paranoid and called Troy.

"Hey Maria what's up?" Troy answered relatively cheerfully.

"Alejandro just left.." Maria began.

"Is everything okay? Do you need us to come home?" Troy asked concerned.

"No Troy please don't, if he has someone watching the house that would be the worst thing you could do. I told him you wouldn't be back til after dinner" Maria said quickly.

"You're still coming to dinner aren't you? What did you need me to do before then?" Troy asked.

"Alejandro is talking about inviting Gabriella out for dinner" Maria said.

"Well that sounds okay. I think we could meet him somewhere" Troy suggested.

"He doesn't want to meet you. He will want to pick Gabriella up. That's what I'm warning you about. He wants to get her alone somewhere, and I know he has his private jet here in Albuquerque, he was asking about her favourite restaurants in New York. Maybe I'm being paranoid but I'm afraid he will try to steal her away" Maria warned him.

"It's okay Maria I'll talk to Gabriella. If she does want to have dinner with him then WE can meet him at the restaurant, and maybe Mom and Dad could be there at another table. I'll make sure she's not alone with him" Troy reassured her.

"Thank you Troy. I knew I could count on you, but I don't know how long he'll be around for, once you go back to school you'll be busy with basketball..." Maria was still worried.

"I'll get the rest of the gang in on it. Taylor Kelsi and Martha will make sure she's okay while I'm at practice" Troy reassured her again.

"This is more than protecting her from jealous cheerleaders" Maria warned.

"Yeah but the cheerleaders are in school, they're around all the time. Alejandro can't come into the school without attracting attention of school security, and they will clearly be on our side, Dad's worked with them for years. I'll ask him to warn them about the threat" Troy told her.

"Where is Gabriella now?" Maria asked panicking when she realised that her daughter must be out of earshot or she would have joined in the conversation.

"It's okay Maria she's here talking to Mom about redecorating her room and mine. Her phone is here on the bench, I'm turning it off so I get a chance to talk to her before he rings" Troy said picking up Gabriella's phone.

"I thought she'd decided against redecorating?" Maria said surprised.

Troy laughed "Yeah, Mom's trying to change her mind"

Maria laughed as well "Who's winning?"

"I think they're going to compromise, Mom has given up on painting my room because Gabriella and I both said we like the colour it is and we don't want to sleep in the paint fumes but she wanted to redo Gabriella's other room anyway. It's been like that ever since I remember" Troy said.

"So I should expect dinner to involve discussion of colours and paint swatches" Maria said smiling.

"Gabriella has her book out, and they're looking through it"

"Redecorating her room was one of the few things Gabriella liked about moving house" Maria said reminiscently "Though I'm surprised that album didn't get put into storage."

"It was already over here, Gabriella had brought it over to show Mom something a while ago and I kept forgetting to give it back to her" Troy explained.

"What were you doing with my phone?" Gabriella asked when Lucille left the room.

"I turned it off. I need to talk to you before Alejandro rings to invite you out to dinner" Troy explained.

"Why? What's up?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"Maria rang me. She said that he talked about taking you out to dinner and then when she couldn't tell you which restaurant is your favourite here in Albuquerque talked about flying to New York for dinner"

"New York for dinner! That's insane!"

"Yeah but Maria was worried that if you got onto a plane he wouldn't bring you back. He could fly to Cuba or anywhere in the world and there would be no way of stopping him. She's afraid he'd take you away and she'd never see you again" Troy explained Maria's concerns.

"She's right once I was on the plane I'd have no choice but to go wherever he took me and without a passport and money it would be very difficult to get back home" Gabriella said scared.

"Particularly if he still legally has custody" Troy added.

"So no agreeing to get on a plane" Gabriella agreed firmly.

"Maria wanted to make sure we never get in the car with him, and that you are never alone with him at all" Troy explained.

"Do you think she's right?"

"I don't know, but Maria knows him better than we do. If she's worried then it can't hurt to be careful around him. It would make your Mom feel better if she knew you wouldn't be alone with him. Remember all of the moves you've made have been to avoid him finding you. I know it was about the marriage contract but she's totally uprooted her life over and over"

"So what do you think I should do?" Gabriella asked thoughtfully.

"It is up to you Gabriella. Think about what you want to do. If you want to have dinner with him offer to meet him at the restaurant. We can arrange for Mom and Dad to be there too if you would feel safer with them there" Troy said not wanting to influence her decision but making sure she knew there were options.

"I can't just have Jack and Lucille crash a dinner invitation" Gabriella said shocked.

Troy shrugged "They could get their own table, they don't have to have dinner with Alejandro. Or we could suggest he meets your friends and have all the gang there"

"So you think I should have dinner with him?"

"I can't answer that for you Gabi, only you can decide if you want to get to know him again or not. If you're not ready perhaps you could tell him that and ask him to come back in a couple of months when you've got used to the idea" Troy suggested.

"Do you think he would?" she asked uncertainly.

"I don't know Gabriella, but if he's genuine about being part of your life without trying to control it then he's going to have to do things your way and give you time to get to know him and establish a relationship from the beginning"

Gabriella still looked stressed and confused, Troy pulled her into his arms for a comforting hug.

"You don't have to decide today. Maria told him you won't be home until after dinner tonight and if you need more time to think about it tell him that"

"Is everything alright?" Lucille asked entering the room and seeing Gabriella looking miserable. She was already worried about the two of them. Jack hadn't told her what he and Troy had spoken about that morning but it must have been something serious for Troy to drive over and drag his father out of bed. And then Gabriella looked worried about something all day and Troy seemed concerned by whoever he'd spoken to on the phone.

"Maria is worried that Alejandro might try to kidnap Gabriella"

"I thought she said the risk would be over once the wedding date had passed. Why is she worried now?"

"Alejandro came by and talked about taking Gabriella out for dinner. He then talked about taking her to one of his favourite restaurants in New York by jet. Maria is afraid if he gets her on the jet he wouldn't bring her back" Troy explained.

"And she rang you instead of Gabriella because?"

Troy shrugged "She wanted me to keep an eye on her make sure she wasn't alone"

"That makes sense" Lucille admitted knowing that Troy was naturally overprotective when it came to Gabriella.

"Is there something else worrying the two of you?" Lucille asked concerned.

"We're fine Lucille, we are just dealing with something that came up the other night" Gabriella said calmly. "We need to talk it over and sort out our feelings but it is not something you can help with"

"I won't pry but please if I can do anything please don't hesitate to ask, even if it is just someone to listen" Lucille said understandingly.

"We will Mama" Troy said.

"Well putting it off won't help anyone; I will leave you to talk" Lucille said leaving the room shutting the door behind her.

A/N: Thankyou to JesselyricsR5 and Kiara who let me know I'd posted the wrong chapter.

Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5 Kiara, neshrox and iminlove13 for your support and thankyou to the other 200 people who read chapter 106 for reading.


	108. Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy and Gabriella looked at each other neither knowing where to start.

Eventually Gabriella started, "I'm sorry Troy I never meant to hurt you like that. I promise that I will never even consider suicide again."

Troy looked at her his eyes filled with tears "How can I know that?" he asked miserably. "I want to believe you..." he didn't want to verbalise the fact that he didn't but Gabriella got the message.

"Troy you need to believe me. I don't know how to convince you. What can I do?" Gabriella begged hugging him.

"I don't know. I'm scared Gabriella I never knew you could feel that way. I really want to believe you and I know you're not feeling like that now but what about if things go wrong?" Troy asked.

"What do you mean if things go wrong?" Gabriella asked.

"I don't know: if we had a huge fight, if something happened to me or to your Mom" Troy suggested reasons that she might come to feel that way again.

"Troy no one of those things would come close to the despair I felt when I made that plan and nothing ever will. I was facing never seeing you again, being married to a stranger, never seeing yiu or any of my friends ever again, giving up all my ambitions, possibly not seeing my Mom more than once or twice a year if that, and moving to a country where women have very few rights compared to the US. I felt like I was giving up everything that made life worth living and becoming a sex slave. Even then I'm not sure I would have the courage to go through with it and actually kill myself instead of just wishing I could." Gabriella tried to explain.

"I hear what you're saying and I know it makes sense but I'm still afraid. I don't know how to stop feeling this way" Troy said frustrated.

Gabriella hugged him. "It's going to take you time Troy, to get used to knowing about this to know that it hasn't really changed anything between us" she reassured him.

"That's what I'm afraid of what if it does change things?" Troy said sadly.

"What do you think it will change?" Gabriella asked hesitantly almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't know, I'm afraid that my worrying about you all the time will make you feel smothered, that you will get frustrated with me if I don't get over this" he said feeling insecure.

This answer relieved Gabriella and she hastened to reassure her husband. "Troy there a lot of things you do that frustrate me at times, just like there are a lot of things I do that sometimes annoy you. It doesn't stop us from having a wonderful relationship or a successful marriage. If it starts to bother me I'll tell you" Gabriella promised.

"And you promise that if you start to feel that suicide is even a possibility you will come to me and talk about how you are feeling and why?" Troy asked.

"Yes I promise I will" Gabriella said honestly.

"Are we okay?" Troy asked.

"I think so. That depends are you okay for now?" Gabriella asked seriously.

"Yeah I'm going to be okay" Troy said decisively.

"Then we are definitely okay" Gabriella said kissing him lightly.

It struck Troy how circumspect Gabriella had been earlier when talking to his mom. He realised that she was trying to keep the fact she had planned to commit suicide a secret. He thought about letting it slide but it wouldn't be fair and if Jack confronted her she would know he told him. He needed to tell her about this morning.

"I'm sorry Gabriella I understand from what you said earlier that you don't want Mom to know, but I told Dad this morning. I didn't realise.." he started to apologise.

Gabriella put her fingers to Troy's lips to stop him.

"It's okay Troy" she reassured.

"But..."

Gabriella didn't let him speak, "I understand Troy. You needed someone to talk to. I'm just glad you went to your Dad and not to Chad" she said.

"I'm sorry" Troy apologised before being cut off again this time with a kiss.

"Did talking to Jack help?" Gabriella asked fairly sure of a positive answer.

"Yeah it did" Troy admitted.

"Then I'm glad you told him" Gabriella said firmly.

Troy looked at her with astonishment.

"I was worried about you Troy, you don't remember but you woke up sobbing last night" Gabriella said hesitantly wondering if she should tell him this.

"Probably more than once seeing as you didn't wake up the time I remember" Troy agreed.

Gabriella nodded "you needed to talk to someone and you weren't ready to talk to me. I can deal with him knowing if it means he was able to help you"

"You know he might tell Mom" Troy warned.

"And if he does she will probably tell my Mom too" Gabriella said sighing.

"I'll talk to him ask him not to tell her and explain why. It will be too hard on Maria to leave you if she finds out about this and she feels guilty enough over trying to make you go along with the marriage contract" Troy offered.

Chad let himself into the house "Hey Troy, Coach, Mrs B" he called.

"Hi Chad come in the kitchen and have some cookies" Lucille called wanting to give Troy and Gabriella time to talk.

"Hey Mrs B where's Troy?" he asked entering the kitchen expecting to see his friend.

"He's upstairs talking to Gabriella" she answered handing over a plate of freshly baked cookies.

"Talking like serious discussion talking?" Chad asked carefully.

"I hope so. They certainly had something they needed to talk through" Lucille said sighing.

"Is everything okay. Did the Gabster's old man turn up?" Chad asked concerned.

"They had dinner with him yesterday. Apparently the contract has been cancelled without penalty. I don't think that's the problem though Gabriella was fine when she was telling me about it earlier" Lucille replied thoughtfully.

Chad wasn't totally obtuse he realised Mrs B was keeping him downstairs so that Troy and Gabriella had time to talk "Do you want me to come back in an hour or so?" he asked.

"Thank you Chad that would be for the best I think"

"Okay. Bye Mrs B." he said snagging some more cookies as he left.

Unfortunately Troy and Gabriella walked downstairs just as he left. "Did I hear Chad?" Troy asked.

Lucille looked at her son assessingly, he and Gabriella were both looking much happier than they had this morning.

"Um yes you did, he'll be back in about an hour" Lucille answered guiltily.

"Did you send him away?" Troy asked confused.

"I just wanted to make sure that you and Gabriella had time to talk and sort things out without being interrupted" Lucille explained.

"But... Oh never mind have you seen Dad?" Troy asked.

"He went to school to catch up on some paperwork" Lucille said. "Is everything okay Troy?"

"Sure Mom just wondering where he was since it's so quiet around here" Troy prevaricated unsuccessfully, his mother knew him better than that.

"Well we might go and get the last of the things we need from Maria's before Chad gets back" Troy lied heading out the door.

Left alone in the kitchen Lucille shook her head then picked up the phone to call Jack and warn him that Troy and Gabriella were coming to see him.

Troy pulled his truck up to the door to the gym and went to knock on the door. He was surprised to find it ajar. "Hey Dad are you here?" he asked walking towards the sound of someone shooting hoops.

"Mom said you came to catch up on paperwork" he scolded lightly.

"I got the things I needed to do done but there's only so much paperwork I can stomach" Jack claimed.

"And this doesn't have anything to do with the list of jobs Mom put up on the fridge this morning?" Troy asked laughing.

Jack smiled guiltily knowing he'd been caught. "What brings you here?" he asked.

"I came to ask you not to say anything about what we talked about this morning to Mom or Maria" Troy asked.

"You know your Mom will want to know?" Jack said surprised that Troy would ask him to keep secrets from his mother.

"Yeah I know, but if you tell her then she will tell Maria" Troy tried to explain.

"Maria deserves to know" Jack said sternly.

"Yeah but she has to leave in a couple of days to go to Mexico. She's already struggling with the idea of leaving Gabriella for so long. Finding this out will make that even harder" Troy explained.

"I see your point but Maria will be extremely angry with all of us if she finds out that we knew this and didn't tell her. She has the right to be told"

"Gabriella did tell her she just wasn't listening properly or didn't believe it. Maria and Alejandro were both there when I found out. Gabriella didn't tell me she told Alejandro, I knew she was telling the absolute truth but they just thought she was being melodramatic" Troy argued.

Jack sighed, "Okay I agree not to tell Maria but I don't know how I'm going to keep it from Luce. She knows how upset you were this morning and normally when you're that upset you would have gone to her first"

"Thanks Dad. I'm sorry if it gets you in trouble with Mom" Troy said.

Gabriella had been silent up to this point letting Troy negotiate with Jack. "Thank you Jack" she said.

"You're going to owe me" Jack said to Troy "I think someone's going to be assisting me with some of that list Lucille put on the fridge this morning."

"Sure Dad" Troy agreed.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5, Siobhan, XxjoejonasfanxX, MorganAtlanta-xx and neshrox for your support.


	109. Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Chad was in the kitchen eating cookies when they arrived home. "Hey Hoops, Gabster he said through a mouthful of cookie.

"Hey Chad, Hey Mama, did you save some cookies for me?" Troy asked coming in and kissing his mother on the cheek as he walked past her to greet Chad.

"Hi Chad, Hi Lucille" Gabriella said also coming in.

"Of course there's cookies for you" Lucille said rolling her eyes at Gabriella who giggled. She got a second plate of cookies out of the cupboard and handed them to Gabriella. "You better help yourself before the boys get to them or you'll miss out" she told her daughter-in-law before going upstairs to leave them alone to talk.

"Thanks Lucille" Gabriella said helping herself to a couple and passing them to Troy.

"Thanks Mama" Troy said.

"Everything okay?" Chad asked.

"Yep" Troy said uncommunicatively.

It surprised Gabriella that Chad seemed happy with this and let the subject drop.

"Mrs B. Said your old man turned up, what's he like?" he asked Gabriella.

Gabriella thought for a moment, "Very used to getting his own way. Even with Eduardo wanting to postpone the contract and happy to cancel it without invoking the exit clauses, he was still very angry. And he was angry we wouldn't go to Cuba to visit his family. I don't trust him" she said.

Troy nodded, "He was angry that Gabriella married me" he added "I don't think he liked me much. Maria is worried he'll kidnap Gabriella."

"Do you think he will?" Chad asked sceptically.

"I don't know. He has the means to do it if he wants to. His private plane is here in Albuquerque which worries me a bit" Troy replied.

"So what're you gonna do?" Chad asked.

Troy shrugged "It's hard to even think of trying to protect Gabriella 24/7 without smothering her or making her feel over crowded. All we can do is try to make sure Gabriella's never alone with him, and that she only meets him in busy public places. I'm going to ask Dad to warn school security. And we're going to start keeping the doors locked during the day."

"I've got your back man. Yours too Mrs Hoops"

Gabriella rolled her eyes at the new nickname but knew that there was no point complaining, Troy had told her Chad never changed his mind once he'd given you a nickname

"I know Chad. Thanks man" Troy said grinning.

"Are you gonna ask the rest of the gang too?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, the girls need to know because there will be times they don't want me around and they need to know not to leave Gabriella alone" Troy replied. "I don't want her to feel I'm hovering too much."

"It's gonna feel weird coming over and having to knock" Chad joked.

Troy nodded "Yeah I hear you, but it's necessary" Troy sympathised. "You know you're still welcome anytime."

"Why don't you guys go out and play some basketball, I'll call Taylor and see if she wants to come over and catch up on everything" Gabriella suggested.

Troy smiled and kissed her cheek "You are the best" he agreed before heading outside.

Gabriella checked that it was Taylor before unlocking the door. "Hey Taylor come on in" she invited.

"Hey sunshine" Taylor said coming in and hugging her friend.

"Troy and Chad are out back or we could go upstairs" Gabriella offered.

"I feel strange going up to Troy's room" Taylor said. "Perhaps we should talk down here. Are Mr and Mrs Bolton home?"

"Lucille is upstairs but Jack's at school" Gabriella replied leading Taylor into the kitchen. "We don't have to use Troy's room Lucille and Jack have given me my own room"

"They expect you to sleep in separate rooms?" Taylor asked shocked.

Gabriella laughed "No but I have too much stuff to fit it all in Troy's room and Lucille wanted to make sure I had somewhere to go if I needed to be alone for a while. They've been really great. I'm going to set up my desk in there" she explained.

"You study on your bed most of the time anyway" Taylor said laughing.

"There is a bed in there if I want to lie on it and study, or I can use Troy's" Gabriella laughed as well.

"How did the holidays go with your mom and Troy's family?"

"Surprisingly well. Mom has always got on well with Jack and Lucille and they really made us feel like part of the family" Gabriella said smiling.

"So what had you so stressed out on the phone?" Taylor asked concerned.

"My Dad turned up yesterday. He cancelled the marriage contract but he still seems to think he has a right to make decisions for me. He said that it never even occurred to him that I wouldn't want to marry whoever he wanted me to" Gabriella said angrily.

"What happened?"

"Well it was all very civil at first. Alejandro and Eduardo had already agreed to cancel the contract after Mom and I didn't turn up in Cuba for the wedding, so he turned up with the paperwork for that and Mom invited him to stay for dinner. He was furious that I'd married Troy and tried to give him a hard time. I was really impressed with how well Troy handled that but some other stuff came up that we are dealing with. Then he goes around to the house today wanting to talk to me and talks about taking me to New York in his private jet for dinner. Mom's scared that if he gets me on the plane then he will take me back to Cuba, and I would be stuck there because he'd still have custody there" Gabriella said worried.

"What are you going to do?" Taylor asked.

"Well Troy already has all these plans to make sure I'm protected so Alejandro can't get me alone" Gabriella said.

"Is he going to drive us all crazy with his over-protectiveness?" Taylor asked laughing.

Gabriella sighed resignedly "Probably" she agreed.

"We'll have to see what we can do to mitigate the situation before he drives you into taking risks just to get some privacy" Taylor commented.

"It's a bit different this time though, last time is was just teenage bitchiness, Alejandro has the power to take me to Cuba and hold me there for at least eighteen months if not forever. As annoying as it is going to be I really do need protecting from him." Gabriella reminded her friend.

"Yes" Taylor was forced to agree. "But if he thinks his need to protect you can stop us from training for the next round of the scholastic decathlon he has another think coming" she said fiercely.

"He's not going to stop us from training" Gabriella scoffed, "we might have to be careful with where we meet though. I doubt most of the decathlon team would be able to stand up to Alejandro."

"So what are Troy's relatives like?" Taylor asked changing the subject.

"Lucille's sister Denise is amazing, she thought nothing of having 32 extra people stay for a week for Christmas, on top of her own 5 children, and everyone seemed to pitch in and get along it just worked out. I've never seen anything like it" Gabriella said.

"Did they like you? Of course they did" Taylor answered her own question.

"Yeah they made us really welcome" Gabriella said smiling at the memorues.

"And Coach Bolton's family?" Taylor asked curiously knowing Coach had taken time to accept Gabriella.

"They're a lot like Jack, all basketball mad. And they prank each other like big kids worse than Chad. But they made us welcome too. Troy's godparents Rob and Sandra didn't really though. It wasn't us though they made Mom welcome enough it's Troy they were angry with. Their son Eden is spoilt rotten and nothing he does is ever wrong in their eyes so they've never liked Troy because he doesn't like Eden" she replied. "Enough about me. How was your Christmas?"

"It was good, no major family fights this year and no one got drunk or said anything too embarrassing" Taylor replied.

"It doesn't sound like you enjoyed it much" Gabriella asked perceptively.

"There are bunch of relatives we don't see during the rest of the year for good reason. We have nothing in common. I mean it's nice and all but I'm always a bit relieved when it's over." Taylor said practically.

"What did you get for Christmas?" Gabriella asked.

"I got the new laptop I've been asking for and updated software for it" Taylor said happily. "And a bunch of stuff I'll need for my room in college next year"

Gabriella nodded "Yeah we got a lot of that stuff too" she said smiling at the thought.

"What else did you get? Did Troy buy you something amazing?"

"You mean more amazing than these and the wedding?" Gabriella asked waving her engagement and wedding rings in Taylor's face.

"Well they weren't for Christmas and he didn't exactly buy you the rings he inherited them" Taylor argued.

"He got me this" Gabriella said showing Taylor the new gold bracelet on her right arm "and a beautiful wedding frame I loved. Mom got me so much stuff on our shopping marathon with Alejandro's credit card that it made it hard for everyone to buy me anything"

"So what you get from your Mom?"

"A heap of phone credit gift cards, and some small stuff and a promise to pay for tickets for Troy and I to visit her in Mexico"

Troy and Chad came in at this point each putting their arm around the special lady in their life got the same reaction. "Eew go take a shower."

The boys laughed and Troy offered his friend the use of the shower downstairs before heading up to shower.

Lucille came downstairs "Wow Gabriella you are such a good influence on that boy" she said. "Oh hi Taylor, did you have a nice Christmas"

"Hello Mrs Bolton, yes we did thanks, how was your Christmas" Taylor asked politely.

"I always love Christmas with my family though I don't quite know how my sister copes with us all every year" Lucille said smiling.

"Gabriella told me about it, it sounded lovely" Taylor commented.

"I'm glad she enjoyed herself" Lucille said.

Chad came in at that moment looking a little odd in Troy's sweats which didn't fit quite right.

"Don't we have any of your clothes here Chad?" Lucille asked.

"No he returned them all when he moved out" Chad answered earning himself a slap from his girlfriend as she saw how his thoughtless words had hurt his friend's mother.

"Sorry Mrs B." he mumbled.

"It's okay Chad" Lucille said softly "I'm glad he's home again now but I guess I must get used to it you'll all be off to college before we know it"

"Hey everybody" Troy said entering the kitchen. "Any cookies left?" he asked his mother hopefully.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Siobhan, neshrox, Wildcats2016, iminlove13 and melzzzzzz for your support.


	110. Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Just the one's I put away for your father" Lucille said shaking her head at him.

"We don't have to tell him there were cookies" Troy suggested though he knew his mother wouldn't go for it.

"Don't even think it, your father can smell cookies baked a mile away" Lucille said laughing at her son's crestfallen expression.

"Okay what else is there to eat?"

"Dinner will be soon" she dismissed his hunger "Are you staying for dinner Chad? Taylor?"

"I'm afraid my parents are expecting me home" Taylor declined.

"Sure what're we having?" Chad accepted, earning himself another slap on the arm from his girlfriend for lack of manners.

Lucille laughed at the pair "Give up Taylor, Chad's here far too often for company manners. I've made shepherd's pie if you want to stay Chad."

"Thanks Mrs B, I'll call mom and let her know" Chad said pulling out his phone.

"Do you know if Maria is planning on coming for dinner Gabriella?" Lucille asked getting plates out to set the table.

"Yes she is thanks. I'll do that" Gabriella said taking the plates.

Jack and Maria arrived together just as Lucille was taking the pie out of the oven. "That's highly suspicious timing Jack" she said sternly.

Maria looked at her in shock, sure she wasn't suggesting...

"Paperwork finished just in time for dinner but not early enough to start any of the things you need to do around here. If I didn't know better I'd think you'd been out playing basketball with Troy" she scolded oblivious to Maria's misunderstanding.

Maria sighed in relief as she realised Lucille wasn't thinking about her at all.

"Troy's going to help me tomorrow, we should be able to get most of it done" Jack tried to soothe his wife.

Lucille looked at Troy surprised, wondering what had got Troy to agree to giving up the last day of his holiday. "You better get started tonight, Gabriella and I have some tasks we wanted Troy's help with tomorrow too."

Troy groaned internally but didn't disagree.

"Poor Troy. He's spent the last few days helping me and Gabriella move now he has to catch up on everything here as well" Maria said reminding them that Troy had actually been working quite hard the last few days.

"Do you have anything you wanted me to finish up tomorrow?" Troy asked his mother-in-law.

Maria was touched by his offer. "No just keep an eye on Gabriella for me while Alejandro's in town so I can concentrate on closing up the house.

"Have you decided to stay with us the last few days then?" Troy asked pleased.

"Yes it doesn't feel like home any more, particularly without Gabriella" Maria said sighing.

Gabriella's phone rang as they were about to sit down. Gabriella checked the caller ID before putting the phone down letting the call go through to message bank.

"There's time to answer that if you want" Lucille said pleased with her manners.

"It's Alejandro" Gabriella replied calling her father by name. "I'll deal with him later, I don't want him ruining our appetites."

"I wonder why it took so long to call?" Troy said curiously.

"I didn't give him the number so it probably took time to contact his investigators to get it" Maria pointed out. "What are you going to say to him?"

"I don't know. I'm still angry about the contract and his attitude last night didn't help. But if I don't take the opportunity to get to know him now he'll leave Albuquerque and I won't see him again. I'm not ready to forgive him totally but I don't want to lose the chance to know more about my family and where I come from" Gabriella said thoughtfully.

"We could meet him somewhere, and then if it doesn't go well you can just leave" Troy offered.

"That should be safe enough too if you meet in a public place and have your own transport there's no reason for him to expect you to get in his car" Maria agreed.

"Where do you suggest we go?" Gabriella asked uncertainly.

"You should choose somewhere you're comfortable with" Jack suggested.

"Somewhere like the 'Texas Roadhouse' where you'll be surrounded by people you know" Troy added.

"I think you need to pick somewhere more formal" Maria said thoughtfully "Otherwise Alejandro is likely to offer to take you somewhere quieter so you can talk privately"

"I don't know any of those type of restaurants" Gabriella said.

"We've always liked the Sandia Grill at the Marriott" Lucille said considering "And I think it's about time we visited it again" she added to her husband.

"Yes let us know what night you are going and we'll book a table. Troy had a point you should have someone you know there as backup" Jack agreed.

"Will you be able to get a booking on short notice?" Gabriella asked nervously betraying how much she wanted someone there.

"We should be able to" Jack reassured her.

They made inconsequential conversation while they ate talking about the basketball schedule and the upcoming round of the scholastic decathlon next week.

"Taylor seemed pretty calm today, I thought she would have had the books out" Troy commented.

"Apparently I was the only member of the team out of town over the holidays so they did quite a bit of practicing and researching in the city library most days"

"So you've missed most of the practices because of me again?" Troy groaned. "You're teams gonna hate me."

"No I think they heard a lot of the argument you had with Taylor last time she went off the deep end and realise that I know my stuff and I've more experience with competition. I earned my place on the team Troy and most of them respect that"

Troy nodded agreement but also resolved to keep an eye on the team's reactions.

After dinner Gabriella offered to wash the dishes. "You don't need to do that" Lucille said.

"I'm going to be living here I want to contribute"

"And I appreciate it but you have a call to return, so we can make the reservations tonight" Lucille reminded her. "Stop procrastinating. You can wash up next time" she promised.

Gabriella checked the message and called Alejandro.

"Alejandro Montez" he answered briskly.

"Hi it's Gabriella" she said shyly.

"Gabriella, I'm glad you called" Alejandro said with a smile in his voice. "I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner"

"Tonight? I just finished eating" Gabriella said surprised.

"What about tomorrow?" Alejandro suggested.

"Okay. Mom said you wanted to know my favourite restaurant?"

"She didn't think you had one" Alejandro commented.

"No but friends recommended the Sandia Grill at the Marriott on San Francisco Road. I've been looking forward to trying it." Gabriella said trying to sound enthusiastic.

Alejandro was silent for a moment and she could hear typing in the background "Yes it looks rather nice" Alejandro agreed suggesting he'd looked it up before agreeing. "I'll make reservations and pick you up at six thirty"

"No Troy and I will meet you there" Gabriella said hurriedly.

Alejandro chose to ignore her inclusion of Troy. "I'll meet you there at six thirty then" he agreed frowning.

"Sure I'll see you tomorrow"

"I'm looking forward to it. Goodnight Gabriella"

"Goodnight" Gabriella said again avoiding the issue of what to call him.

"Tomorrow at six thirty" she said looking at Jack who immediately pulled out his phone and made a booking for six fifteen.

"Lucille and I will be there Gabriella" he said hanging up.

"Thank you Jack" Gabriella said walking over and giving him a quick hug.

"Now everything is settled I could use some help with the dishes" Lucille said staring at Troy.

"I was just about to go out and mow the lawn before it gets dark" Troy excused.

Lucille sighed "Off you go then before it gets late enough for the neighbours to complain."

"I'll help with the dishes" Gabriella offered again.

Troy mowed the lawn, pruned the roses and tidied up the yard, Jack tried to fix the dishwasher. Lucille and Gabriella washed up and tidied the kitchen before heading out with Maria to buy paint. "What colours have you chosen?" Maria asked.

"Burgundy with cream and powder blue and gold accents" Gabriella said.

"Interesting choice" Maria said noncommittally, she couldn't picture the combination.

Lucille pulled out a swatch of fabric. "This will be the curtains" she said showing Lucille.

"That will look quite masculine" Maria said slightly concerned at the choices, "I thought this was to be your room not yours and Troy's"

"It is, but I like these colours and I wanted to try them. If they look good I will use them next year as well"

Maria accepted this "I understand you don't want your flat to be too girly but it's important that it reflect your personality as well."

"I know Mom but colours don't need to be feminine to be my personality, wait til it's done to pass judgement" Gabriella said ending the argument.

Troy showered and returned to his room wrapped in a towel. "Troy we can't" Gabriella hissed at him, "My Mom and your Mom and Dad are all upstairs."

Troy smiled "Chill Gabriella I just forgot to take my stuff to the shower" he said getting clean clothes out of the drawer.

Gabriella sitting on the bed enjoying the view noticed that Troy was moving stiffly. "You overdo it with all the moving and chores today?" she asked concerned.

Troy shrugged "Maybe a little"

"Would you like me to give you a massage?" she offered.

"Only if it won't make you feel uncomfortable" Troy said gently.

"Well that would depend on what exactly you were asking me to massage" Gabriella said suggestively.

Troy grinned "As much as I would like to take you up on that it's my left shoulder that really could use the massage" he replied "Though feel free to massage anything else you would like to"

Gabriella laughed "Maybe one day all the parents aren't within hearing range" she said

Troy sat on the edge of the bed with his towel still around his waist. Gabriella climbed on the bed behind him and massaged his neck and shoulders.

Troy groaned as his tight muscles started to relax and respond to the massage.

"Shhh" whispered Gabriella.

"Yeah no point behaving if it sounds like we're doing it anyway" Troy joked laughing.

"Troy" she slapped him lightly on the sore shoulder "Shush or I'll stop"

"Please don't I'll be quiet" Troy begged in a whisper.

A/N: Thank you to Wildcats2016, neshrox, Kiara, Pumpkinking5, and JesselyricsR5 for your support.


	111. Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella finished massaging Troy's shoulder and worked her way down is back finding other tight muscles. "Lie on your stomach" she said moving back to give him room.

The towel fell off as Troy climbed into bed. He ignored it and lay down. Gabriella resumed her massage working his way down his spine to massage his buttocks.

"That feels really good" Troy moaned quietly.

Gabriella kissed his shoulder and lay down beside him. "Goodnight Troy"

Troy rolled onto his side and pulled Gabriella into his arms "Goodnight Gabi" he said kissing her lightly on the mouth.

Unfortunately his movements had inadvertently pressed his erection into Gabriella's hip.

"I'm sorry Troy, I didn't mean to do that" she said guiltily.

"Don't worry about it" Troy tried to reassure her.

"But..."

"But Maria, Mom and Dad are still within hearing distance" Troy said shutting the argument down.

"I'm sorry"

"It's fine Gabriella. I enjoyed the massage and my shoulder feels a lot better"

In spite of her feelings of guilt Gabriella fell asleep quickly leaving Troy lying awake trying to will his erection away.

Sunday 5th January.

Troy spent the next day moving furniture for his Mom and preparing Gabriella's room for painting before helping his Dad with the rest of his chores. Both his parents were quiet and he caught his Mom staring at him several times.

"What's up Mom?" he asked when he caught her again.

"Is everything okay Troy?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah Mom it is. Why?" Troy said.

"What was wrong yesterday morning?"

"It's sorted" Troy dismissed not willing to talk about it.

"Troy" his mother said demandingly.

"Mom I can't tell you. And Dad can't either he promised he wouldn't, so don't be too hard on him about it" Troy replied seriously.

"Is that why you're spending the last day of your vacation doing your father's chores?" Lucille asked suspiciously.

"If you weren't pissed with him he wouldn't need to finish all his chores today to get back in your good books" Troy said pragmatically. "And if he wasn't keeping a promise he made to me and Gabriella you wouldn't be pissed with him"

"So your father didn't make it a condition of the deal that you help today?" his mother said staring him straight in the face.

"He asked me to help him out" Troy admitted.

Lucille shook her head, "Finish putting the next coat of paint on the room and you can have the rest of the day to yourself" she said.

"Thanks Mom"

"Do you have any homework to finish?"

"Yeah like Gabriella would let me get away with that" Troy answered sarcastically.

"Don't talk to me like that Troy Bolton you're not too old to smack" his mother replied playfully.

"No Mama I don't have any homework and I'm ahead on my reading for next term" he said seriously.

"Then go enjoy your afternoon"

"I'll get this painting done first so Gabriella can get her stuff organised" Troy said.

By the time Troy finished painting and cleaned up it was late morning, he and Gabriella drove over to her aunt Ginevra's to collect the rest of her stuff.

"Hi Gabriella, Troy. I was beginning to wonder whether you even wanted all this, or if it was just a pretence because you never intended to come with me" her aunt greeted them.

Gabriella flushed. "It's summer clothes, stuff I don't need here at this time of year but that would have been useful where we were going. But you were right I only intended to come with you if for some unforseen reason Troy and I couldn't get married. Marrying Troy was always my first choice."

Ginevra nodded in acceptance "Yes you made that quite clear last time we met. How was your Christmas?"

"It was great" Gabriella said enthusiastically just like a big family movie Christmas. How was yours?" she asked suddenly guilty that her aunt had spent Christmas alone because she and Maria were with the Boltons.

"It was quite pleasant. I spent it with friends" Ginevra said dismissing Gabriella's obvious guilt.

"I'm sorry we couldn't be together for Christmas"

"Yes well next year I'll be in Europe so I'll probably have Christmas with your Grandparents so if you want to make it up to me you can come and help keep the peace" Ginevra joked.

Gabriella smiled wistfully "I haven't seen them in years but somehow I think me being there would only upset them both more."

Ginevra laughed "Perhaps but at least I wouldn't be the only target."

"After five months in California I think we'll want to spend Christmas with Mom and the Boltons" Gabriella said shaking her head.

"Speaking of family members we'd rather not spend Christmas with, have you heard from your father?"

Gabriella groaned and told her aunt about dinner the other day "...it was so awkward I don't know what to say ti him or what to call him. I don't know if I want to forgive him for all this or not but I feel like I need to make up my mind quickly before he disappears again. I don't know whether he genuinely just wants to get to know me or if he has some hidden motives for what he's doing. And I'm supposed to be having dinner with him tonight" she concluded.

"Well that's a fine mess" Ginevra sympathised. "You're not meeting him alone are you?" she asked concerned.

"Of course not. I told Alejandro when he invited me that Troy would be coming" Gabriella reassured her aunt.

"And what did he say to that?" Ginevra said grinning at the thought of Alejandro being 'told' anything.

"Nothing" said Gabriella frowning "He didn't sound very happy but he didn't mention Troy at all"

Ginevra glanced at the clock "you'd better be going or you won't be back in Albuquerque in time"

They were deliberately a little late arriving at the restaurant wanting to make sure Jack and Lucille had been seated first so they knew where they'd be in the restaurant if they needed them. Unfortunately Alejandro had changed the location of their dinner and only let Gabriella know about an hour earlier. This particular restaurant was a converted turn of the century cottage and the dining area was made up of several smaller rooms and Jack and Lucille had been lucky to be able to get another reservation on such short notice.

As soon as they received the text from Jack telling them where he and Lucille were sitting, Troy and Gabriella made their way to the front counter.

"Good evening Sir, do you have a reservation?" asked the hostess

"Yes, under the name Montez" Troy said smiling politely.

The hostess frowned "There must be some mistake, Mr Montez is already here and the booking is clearly only for two"

"Surely it wouldn't be any trouble to add an extra place setting" Gabriella asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid it is" the hostess said not at all apologetically, "Mr Montez specifically requested the small two person table near the window."

"He came in to check the place out before he booked" Gabriella said shocked.

"He lunched here" the hostess confirmed.

Gabriella looked troubled "Is there a table for three available?"

"No we are fully booked tonight Miss" the hostess replied sounding bored.

"What do you want to do?" Troy asked. "I could probably join Mom and Dad if you want me to" he offered.

"No he needs to know that we are a package deal. I clearly said 'we' when I accepted the invitation" Gabriella said firmly.

"Can you take a message to Mr Montez?" she asked turning back to the hostess.

"Of course Miss"

Gabriella turned to Troy "What do I say, I want him to know that I didn't just not show up but I don't know how to put it?"

Troy shrugged "How polite do you want to be?" he asked.

"I think that's the problem, I don't want to be polite at all I'm really upset with him"

Troy turned to the hostess "Please tell Mr Montez that Mr and Mrs Bolton did arrive but seeing we were clearly not both invited we have left, and that he may call if he wishes to set up a more suitable dinner arrangement for another night. He has our number." Troy said before getting out his phone to text and let his father know what was going on.

Troy and Gabriella walked out to Troy's truck both keeping a sharp eye out in case Alejandro had arranged someone to intercept them. They got in and Troy drove around in a circle to be sure they weren't being followed then parked in a busy spot.

"Well now we're out and all dressed up with nowhere to go what would you like to do?" Troy asked grinning.

"Maybe we should just go home" Gabriella said miserably.

"Your Mom is out tonight and Mom and Dad had already ordered when I text them about what happened at the restaurant. Both our houses are empty and as much as I'd like to go home and take advantage of that fact I think we should be somewhere surrounded by people tonight. Alejandro's going to be pretty pissed off"

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, JesselyricsR5, Siobhan, neshrox, iminlove13 and FanfREAK1 for your support.


	112. Chapter 112

Chapter 112

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Call Chad and see what the others are doing" Gabriella suggested knowing they normally would spend the evening as a group.

"Okay" Troy said dialling.

"He Hoops what's up man?" Chad asked surprised to hear from his friend.

"Gabriella's old man kinda bailed on dinner so we're wondering what everyone's up to tonight?" Troy replied.

"Oh man that's too bad is Gabster upset about it?" Chad asked concerned.

"She's right here dude, yeah a bit" Troy said quietly.

"Well this might cheer her up. We're all meeting at the Smith Street Cinema, the girls want to see some chick flick and promised if we come tonight then they'll come with us to see the new "The Fast and the Furious" when it opens next week" Chad said.

"What time?" Troy asked.  
"Eight o'clock" Chad replied after checking with someone in the background.

"We'll meet you there" Troy said disconnecting the call.

"And what did you just agree we will do without asking me?" Gabriella asked pretending to be affronted.

"We're meeting the gang at eight o'clock to see that new chick flick Taylor was going on about this morning" Troy said smiling and kissing her lightly.

Gabriella smiled "I'll forgive you for not asking me"

"Thank you milady" Troy said bowing. "Don't worry I know better than to make a habit of it. Now we have about forty minutes to kill. Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Perhaps something light, I don't really feel much like eating after what happened" Gabriella said.

"Are you feeling up to meeting up with the others, we don't have to..." Troy asked concerned.

"No I'm fine. A movie is a good idea, it will take my mind off the whole situation" Gabriella reassured him.

"How about we drive through McDonald's, you could get a César salad?" Troy suggested cheekily.

Gabriella smiled "Okay"

To his surprise when they got to the drive through Gabriella did indeed order a salad. "You truly don't want anything else?" Troy asked concerned.

"I don't really even feel like eating this" Gabriella replied. "But I know I need to eat, if just to stop you worrying."

Troy added his own large order. "It's a wonder you don't weigh 200 pounds" Gabriella said disgusted.

Troy shrugged dismissively, "I'll run it off tomorrow. If you came running with me you could eat like this too" he teased.

"I'll pass thanks" Gabriella said dryly.

"You sure about that"

"Troy, dragging me out running might be cause for divorce" she said teasingly.

Troy grasped his chest and fell back dramatically. "You wound me" he said. "Please tell me you're only joking"

Hearing the note of seriousness in Troy's voice Gabriella said. "Troy I love you, and I will love you forever. I will never regret being married to you. But I'm not joking about hating running, especially before six in the morning."

"Dude what's happening I didn't expect to see you tonight" Zeke exclaimed. Chad hadn't got around to telling the others that Troy and Gabriella were coming.

"Plans fell through and here we are" Troy replied not wanting to get into it in front of everyone.

"So we are clearly second best tonight" Sharpay said snidely "Well thank you for gracing us with your presence but as you can see we do manage to have fun without you"

"It's not like that, we wanted to come but we'd already committed to this family thing, you know how it is. As soon as we were free we called Chad and arranged to meet you guys here" Troy attempted to diffuse the situation before Sharpay worked herself into fits.

They quickly bought tickets and headed towards the candy bar, "A jumbo popcorn please" Troy asked

"Troy you can't possibly be that hungry, I don't know where you put it" Gabriella exclaimed amused thinking of the amount of food he'd just eaten.

Truthfully Troy wasn't that hungry, he was hoping once the movie started that Gabriella would calm down enough to realise she was hungry and eat the popcorn with him and wanted to have enough that she didn't feel guilty for eating his snack.

Taylor dragged Gabriella off for a restroom break before the movie. "What happened? I can't believe that Alejandro just didn't show up"

"Oh he was there" Gabriella retorted angrily. "He changed the reservations to a place that has these nice intimate tables for two and booked one of them for just the two of us."

"I thought Troy was going with you? Taylor said surprised.

"Yes he was and I told Alejandro that specifically when we accepted his invitation. He ignored it. When we got there and found out we left" Gabriella explained what had happened.

"How do you feel about it?" Taylor quickly got to the point.

"Pissed as hell" Gabriella growled then added a moment later "And oddly relieved that I could put off having dinner with him. I want time to decide what to do, whether I want him in my life and I don't think he's willing to wait."

"Do you think your Dad will try to invite you to dinner again?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I think he will. Hopefully he'll include Troy this time"

"And if he doesn't"

"I won't meet with him alone. If he doesn't invite Troy too I'll refuse to go. Troy's worried though that this will have made him angry and we don't know how he will react"

"The real problem is Gabriella you'll never know if you can forgive him for what he's done without getting to know him and finding out why he did what he did. I'm not saying you have to forgive him but you're not going to be able to decide just by thinking about it" Taylor said seriously.

Gabriella sighed, "Yeah I know" she said sounding defeated.

The boys found the movie slightly boring though parts were amusing. Troy was pleased though that it succeeded in his objective of distracting Gabriella. She even ate more than half of the popcorn. Afterwards the boys talked the girls into spending some time in the games parlour and if Troy was a little distracted in his attempt to keep an eye on Gabriella at the same time it was a distraction the others took full advantage of to beat him in the various matches. If he'd been paying enough attention to notice his pride would have been seriously dented. Gabriella seemed to be having fun talking to her friends as they watched the boys play having elected not to play themselves.

"How are you coping with moving in with the Bolton's?" Martha asked.

"It's okay, after we were all away over Christmas it seems normal to have them around. Mom's staying with them for the next few days too, I'm really going to miss her when she goes" Gabriella said sadly.

"How're you getting along with Coach Bolton?" Kelsi asked knowing the two had had a rough start though he had seemed supportive since the wedding.

Gabriella smiled "He's been great, he's even teaching me to drive" she said enthusiastically.

"That might be part of the problem you're having deciding what role you want Alejandro to play in your life" Taylor said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked confused.

"Alejandro is your father and he wants to step back into that role" Taylor began to explain. "But you don't need a father anymore because Coach Bolton already fills that role in your life."

Gabriella didn't answer immediately "You're right, he has for a while now" she agreed thoughtfully. "What do I do?"

"Oh Honey, I can't tell you that" Taylor replied hugging her friend. "You need to decide yourself what role you want Alejandro to play in your life. But whatever relationship you develop with him won't necessarily change the relationships you already have with your Mom or the Bolton's. They'll always be your family."

"And you can always have more than one father figure in your life"

"Yeah after all having your Mom doesn't stop you and Mrs Bolton from forming a relationship does it?"

"No but it's different, Lucille's more like an aunt or friend that's older. She's really great but I don't see her like my Mom"

"Yes because you already have one. And you don't have to see Alejandro as your dad unless you want to. You can get to know him without him taking Jack's place in your life"

Troy came over at this point concerned by the serious looks all the girls were wearing and the fact that they'd been completely ignoring their boyfriends. He wrapped his arms around Gabriella from behind. "Is everything okay?" he asked quietly.

"And overprotective Troy makes his reappearance" Taylor said sarcastically.

Troy and Gabriella turned as one to frown at her. "That was completely uncalled for Tay" Gabriella scolded her friend "Of course Troy is going to be concerned. The last couple of days have been really rough and I don't know how I would have got through them without his support."

Troy didn't reply but turned back to Gabriella his eyes questioning.

"I'm fine Troy we were talking about what sort of relationship I want to try to establish with Alejandro if any, and how supportive you and your family have been."

Troy smiled, "Speaking of our family they're probably home by now if you wanted to go home. We should get to sleep, school starts tomorrow."

"So you have to be up at five-thirty to run" Gabriella sighed. "We'd better get going. Good night everyone"

"Night Gabs Night Hoops" Chad said high fiving his mate.

"See you tomorrow" Kelsi and Ryan said cheerfully.

"Good night" Martha waved.

"Bye Gabriella, take care of our girl Troy" Taylor said giving Troy a firm look.

"You just told me off for being over protective, make up your mind" Troy grumbled agreeing.

"Night" Zeke said. Sharpay didn't say anything.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, neshrox, iminlove13, Kiara, Siobhan and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	113. Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

The three older adults were in the lounge when Troy and Gabriella arrived home. "Hey everyone. How was your evening?" Troy asked.

"Farewelling colleagues is always a tedious process, full of empty promises to keep in touch. It is a necessary part of networking to maintain good relationship as you move around the company offices, but not particularly pleasant to do" Maria said wearily.

"We had an interesting evening. A man who must have been Alejandro from your description stormed out in a temper after speaking to the hostess just after I received your text" Jack told his son.

"What happened then?"

"Entree arrived and your father refused to follow him" Lucille said dryly trying to lighten the tension.

"From what I saw he walked out and got straight into his car and drove away, he didn't speak to anyone in the car park" Jack said giving a wife a dirty look for her teasing.

"Did he try to call you?" Maria asked.

Gabriella shrugged "I turned off my phone I wasn't ready to talk to him." She got out the phone and sighed when she saw the three missed calls from Alejandro's number. "Three missed calls but he didn't leave a message" she reported dispiritedly. "I'll call him back tomorrow. I'm too tired to deal with him now. I'm going to bed."

"Good night Honey" Maria said giving her daughter a quick hug.

"Night Mom. Goodnight Jack, Lucille."

"Night Dad, Mama, Maria" Troy echoed kissing both women's cheeks before following Gabriella upstairs.

He closed his door and pulled Gabriella into his arms kissing her gently. "Are you really okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah I am"

"What was it that Taylor or Martha said that shocked you so much?" he asked trying to get her to talk about what was worrying her. "Or was it Kelsi?"

To his surprise Gabriella smiled "Taylor suggested that the reason I don't feel the need to forgive Alejandro is because I already have a father figure in my life, that I don't need Alejandro to fill that role any longer."

Troy looked confused.

"Taylor thinks I think of Jack as a father figure" she clarified "and she's right, I wouldn't hesitate to go to him for help or advice if I needed a fathers point of view. I really do feel that Jack and Lucille are my family too. I don't need Alejandro in my life and I'm not going to bend over backwards to keep him from leaving again. If he wants to be in my life it will be on my terms" she added determinedly.

Troy smiled "Yeah" he agreed "I feel the same way with Maria. I'd probably still ask my Mom and Dad for help before I'd go to Maria with most things but I feel like the five of us are a family."

Gabriella distracted by her thoughts didn't realise she undressed in front of Troy who had stopped to enjoy the view as she stripped and pulled on her pyjamas. Shaking his head to get his thoughts back on track he said "I'm proud of the way you're dealing with all of this. You know I'll back any decision you make about Alejandro"

Gabriella smiled "I know Troy and thanks" she said climbing into bed.

Troy quickly stripped and joined her wrapping his arms around her.

Troy was gone when Gabriella awoke next morning so she got up and hurried through her shower to leave it free for him when he got back. The morning routine was a little thrown off by being at the Boltons but they still managed to arrive at school a little early and waited in Troy's truck for their friends to arrive.

"Have you thought about what you're going to say to Alejandro?" Troy asked.

"No but I may as well get it over and done with" she said taking out her phone and returning his call.

"Alejandro Montez's phone" a strange voice answered crisply.

"Hi it's Gabriella returning his calls" Gabriella said uncertainly, thrown by the phone having been answered by someone else.

"I'm afraid Mr Montez is in a meeting I'll tell him you called, he should be available to take your call if you should call him again about nine-thirty. Can I confirm he has your number in case he wishes to call you" the stranger said efficiently without introducing themselves.

"I'm in class then, break is from ten to ten-thirty and from twelve thirty to one-fifteen" Gabriella replied.

"Mr Montez is an extremely busy man" the person sounded horrified.

"And I have a life to live too" Gabriella said firmly. "If he wants to talk to me he needs to call when I'm available, otherwise he could leave a message." She disconnected the call.

Troy looked at her confused.

"I assume that was a secretary, she didn't introduce herself" she said shrugging.

"Or a girlfriend?" Troy suggested.

"She didn't sound like a girlfriend, she was keeping track of when Alejandro would be able to speak to me."

"So we wait and see if he calls back at the times you've asked him to?" Troy said hugging her.

"I don't know how I'm going to concentrate in class" Gabriella said irritated.

"Maybe we should skip" Troy teased cheekily.

"Troy Bolton" she said angrily.

"Hey, I'm joking" he said raising his hands in defeat.

Gabriella laughed realising she'd been had "Oh you" she scolded lightly.

"If we're going to class we better get going" Troy said getting out of the car and jumping over the truck bed to open Gabriella's door the gesture of chivalry only partly prompted by the fact the passenger side door was difficult to open from the inside. He carried Gabriella's book-bag to her locker for her and then her books towards homeroom greeting friends on the way.

In spite of her prediction Gabriella had no difficulties paying enough attention in class to keep her teachers content though she continued to think about Alejandro and the problems she was having with him.

She turned her phone back on at the start of free period to find that she again had a missed call from him but he still hadn't left a message beyond asking her to call him.

Sighing she went up to the rooftop for some privacy and called only to speak to the woman who didn't introduce herself and declared that Alejandro was too busy to talk to her at that time. Losing her temper she hung up determined not to call again.

Troy came running up the steps calling her name "Gabriella Gabriella are you up there?"

"I'm here Troy" she said dispiritedly.

"Are you okay?" he asked coming to sit beside her and taking her hand.

"Alejandro returned my call while we were in class but is too busy to talk again now" she said frustrated.

"He didn't pay any attention to the fact I told him I couldn't talk to him during class time and he still didn't leave a message."

"He'll call again if it's important to him" Troy reassured her, "And if he doesn't then at least you'll know it's not worth the effort"

"You're right I'll just have to wait and see"

"In the mean time let's see if I can distract you a little, make you feel better" he said before kissing her passionately.

"Troy we can't do it here" Gabriella protested.

"I know, I promised Dad we wouldn't have sex at school. Doesn't mean we can't make out for a while" Troy said grinning hopefully.

"You are taking the blame if we get caught" she warned kissing back. They kissed and cuddled until the warning bell for next period rang.

"Do you want to meet back up here for lunch?" Troy asked as they ran downstairs towards their next class.

"No let's eat with everyone, don't you have practice"

Troy sighed "Yeah" he agreed. "Sit with Taylor and I'll meet you at the end of lunch" he said kissing her cheek at the door to her classroom before racing down the hall to his own.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, neshrox, Kiara and Siobhan for your support.


	114. Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella turned her phone back on at the start of lunch, noticing another missed call from Alejandro. She ignored it and sat making plans with her friend for scholastic decathlon training.

"We should meet at the community library again"

"Troy won't go for it" Gabriella warned.

"Why not? It's a perfectly respectable place to study"

"I'm having some security issues. Troy doesn't want me going anywhere without him"

"He's not here"

"No but Jack alerted school security" Gabriella replied gesturing to the security guard at the doors to the cafeteria. "Troy knows I'm protected here on school property"

"Will Troy let you come over to one of our houses to practice?" asked sarcastically.

"So long as he knows where I am and we lock the doors he should" Gabriella replied thoughtfully "but he'd prefer we practice at school, or you could all come over to my place"

"I thought your Mom was leaving"

"She is. I meant you could come over to the Bolton's"

The scholastic decathlon team looked at each other with a mixture of shock and horror. Troy may have been pleasant to them all at the celebrations following the last round but he was the undisputed king of the school and none of them had the courage to go to his home uninvited, not to mention that it was Coach Bolton's home as well.

"You mean you'll ask Troy and Coach Bolton if it's okay?"

Gabriella laughed "Sure if you think it necessary" she said easily.

"You don't think it's necessary?"

Gabriella shrugged "I feel I should warn Lucille seeing that she's the one likely to be at home and will have to provide whatever snacks we eat but it is my home too. I'm allowed to invite whoever I want over."

"I wouldn't think that Coach Bolton would want to have students at home, my mom says it's important to keep her distance" said Kelly whose Mom taught at another High School in the area. "That's why she sent me to East"

Gabriella laughed at that "Troy's friends walk in like they own the place, Jack loves to have them around. If he hasn't seen them for a while he'll ask Troy to invite them over for a game"

"Yeah but Troy's friends are all on the basketball team"

"Kelsi Taylor and I aren't but we're still always welcome"

"I don't think I could come unless I knew Troy and Coach Bolton were okay with it"

"Okay I'll go ask now, practice should be almost done"

"You're going to interrupt practice" they asked horrified.

"None of the guys have eaten they'll be grateful I stopped Jack so they have time to actually eat lunch before afternoon classes start" Gabriella said hurrying off.

"I hope we haven't got her into trouble"

"Coach loves Gabriella, she'll be fine" Taylor dismissed their concerns.

"Coach hates having his class interrupted he'd be worse with team practice"

"Much worse, remember what Troy said he made him do if he missed practice?"

The others shuddered at the thought of 5am training. Unfortunately Taylor had heard the comment, "No what does he make him do?" she asked concerned for her friend. Gabriella had said several times that she was worried how hard Jack pushed Troy's training.

"Makes him make it up at five in the morning" he said sheepishly hoping Taylor wouldn't think it was a good idea for the scholastic decathlon team.

Taylor shook her head "Troy's an exercise junkie, Gabriella said he often gets himself up to run at the crack of dawn even when they were away on holiday he'd run in the snow. Jack might drag him up to make up for missing training but it's not the punishment that it would be to the rest of us."

"Huh"

"Troy needs to exercise almost as much as he needs to eat. You know how most people get grumpy if they're hungry. According to Gabriella Troy's impossible if he hasn't been able to exercise. For every morning Coach drags him out of bed to train you can bet there's a morning he's dragged his dad out of bed instead" Taylor explained.

Taylor was right that Gabriella wouldn't get in trouble for interrupting the end of training. As soon as he saw her come in Jack sent the rest of the team to the showers.

"Is everything alright?" he asked his daughter in law "Have you heard from Alejandro?"

"He left me some messages to call him but when I did he was too busy to talk. So I left him notice of the times I'm available and left the ball in his court so to speak."

"Then what are you doing here?" Troy asked smiling at her to let her know he welcomed her interruption.

"I was having lunch with the scholastic decathlon team and they suggested meeting in the community library tonight" Gabriella began.

"Okay I could go with you" Troy agreed. "I don't want you there at night without me"

"I told them that. I also suggested that maybe they could come over to your place" she said hesitantly.

"Our place" Troy corrected softly. "That's a good idea, and then we'd know you were safe."

"Give Lucille a call to let her know" Jack added agreeably.

"I was going to but some of the team said they'd feel awkward and I should make sure it was okay with the two of you"

Troy looked taken aback "Why?" he asked concerned.

"Mostly because of Jack. When all's said and done your house is a teacher's home and many teachers would not be comfortable opening their home to a group of students" Gabriella began.

"That's ridiculous my friends have always been welcome" troy protested.

"Yeah but Jennifer's mother is a teacher and deliberately sent her daughter to a different school than the one she teaches at to avoid situations like this so you can understand why she's dubious and the others took their lead from her" Gabriella explained.

Jack nodded in understanding "Let them know I said it's okay. Do you have a list of the team so I can speak to some of them myself if I have them in class this afternoon?"

"I can get you one. What classes do you have?"

"Both the freshman classes are this afternoon"

"Jennifer Haddock, Bree Laylor and Clinton Smythe are the freshmen on the team"

Jack pulled a face "Yeah I can see why they don't want to come if I'll be there" he said.

Troy and Gabriella both looked at him surprised.

"All three take the stereotype that geeks cannot be interested in sports to heart" Jack said sighing. "The worst of it is that Bree could actually have some talent if she wasn't so indifferent. I'll speak to them."

Gabriella hesitated, "That's only half the problem. They're still intimidated by you Troy" she said apologetically.

Troy sighed "Nothing I can do about it except make them feel welcome if they do come" he said.

"Just be yourself and let them get to know you" Jack suggested. "They're not frightened by you so much as your image as the most popular sports star at East High."

"Go shower Troy you're going to be late for class"

"Wait for me"

Gabriella smiled "Sure"

Troy rushed through his shower taking it cold so that he wasn't tempted to linger. He rushed out so he wouldn't make Gabriella late for class.

Gabriella took his bag and his books handing him a sandwich she'd bought him earlier. Troy ate as they hurried to Drama, the one class where Troy would be in less trouble arriving with Gabriella than using the sorry practice ran late excuse.

Gabriella sighed as she turned off her phone. Alejandro still hadn't called, as unsure as she was whether she actually wanted to talk to him she was slightly hurt that he hadn't called during the time she said she was available.

"I hope you are turning that off Mrs Bolton" Ms Darbus said as she called the class to order.

"Yes Ms Darbus" Gabriella said trying to smile.

Troy sensing her mood finished his sandwich and grabbed her hand to squeeze.

Gabriella squeezed back feeling slightly better, before turning her attention to the class.

Maria and Lucille picked up Gabriella before the end of last period so she could go to the airport with them to see her mother off.

"I love you Mija" Maria said hugging her tightly.

"I love you too Mom"

"Remember I'm only a phone call away if you need me. I trust Troy and Jack and Lucille to take good care of you. Trust them"

"I know Mom they're my family now too. But I'm going to miss you so much" Gabriella said with tears in her eyes.

"I'm going to miss you too Honey"

"I have to go sweetie. I'll call you tonight"

"Bye Mom"

Lucille wrapped her arms around Gabriella as they watched Maria walk through customs. Gabriella turned her head into Lucille's shoulder and cried.

"It will be okay Honey"

"Can you take me back to school? I want to see Troy"

"Sure thing sweetie"

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, neshrox, iminlove13, Siobhan, Kiara and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	115. Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They arrived back at school about an hour after the final bell. Lucille and Gabriella entered the gym to find practice in progress. Gabriella sat in the front row while Lucille went up to Jack.

"You see Maria off safely?" he asked his wife.

"Yeah, Gabriella could use a hug" Lucille said looking at her husband expectantly.

"Troy, take five" he called his son off the court.

Troy headed over to Gabriella who jumped up and threw herself into his arms, ignoring the fact he was hot and sweaty.

"Hey Gabi, you okay baby?" he asked concerned.

Gabriella nodded miserably. Troy sighed and rubbed her back. "I love you Gabriella" he said quietly.

"I love you too" she murmured.

Troy just held her until his father called him back into the game. Gabriella went back to sit near the entrance to the change rooms.

"I'm going to go now Gabriella, do you want to come with me?" Lucille asked.

"I'd rather sit here and wait for Troy if it's okay with Jack" Gabriella replied.

"That's fine Gabriella" Jack said gently making an exception to his normal closed practice rule.

Gabriella sat quietly watching. Troy shot her worried looks every now and then but tried hard to concentrate on practice so is father didn't kick her out next time.

Practice ended and Troy went to shower kissing her on his way past. Jack came over to sit with her offering a hug. "How're you doing?" he asked.

Gabriella shrugged "I knew it was coming but it was still really hard to watch her get on the plane and know she won't be back in a couple of days"

"And how you coping with Alejandro, has he called today?" Jack asked.

"He's called a last night and couple of times while I had my phone off for class. To be honest that just pissed me off because I let him know when I'd have my phone on and he ignored it. It's be okay if he'd leave a message but he doesn't and when I've tried to return his call his secretary person won't put me through" she complained.

"If he wants to talk to you and I'm sure he does he will keep calling until he finds a time you can answer, maybe the secretary didn't pass on your message telling him when to call" Jack suggested trying to be fair.

"I just don't think I can deal with him at the moment" Gabriella said sighing.

"Then don't, your friends will understand if you leave your phone off. Or you could give it to Troy and he can answer it if Alejandro calls and give it back if someone else calls" Jack said supportively.

"That sounds like a good idea I don't want to turn it off in case Mom calls" Gabriella agreed. "You really don't mind having the scholastic decathlon team over tonight?"

"Gabriella it's your home too. And with all that's going on I want you home where we can protect you. Besides I doubt they'll be as noisy as the team" he added good-naturedly.

"Probably not for the first few visits but once they get comfortable they can be. Mom found having them all at once a bit of a chore" Gabriella replied smiling.

Troy came up and sat next to her, "Hey Gabriella, ready to go home?"

"Ready to get out of here" she answered "No offence Jack I just want to be somewhere I don't feel like everyone will be watching my every move."

"It can be a bit like living in a fishbowl" Jack agreed watching them leave.

Troy drove them to the park and they sat in the truck with Gabriella almost on his lap. "I didn't think it would feel quite this bad. I know you and your Mom and Dad will take perfectly good care of me and keep me safe and love me but I just feel lost without Mom here" she said crying.

Troy's heart ached at the thought that his love wasn't enough for Gabriella though his rational mind had to admit he'd feel the same if it were his parents who moved to Mexico. He scooted across the bench seat away from the steering wheel and pulled Gabriella towards him tightly. She swung her leg across so she was straddling him and clung tightly sobbing. Troy felt like a complete ass, Gabriella was extremely upset but the position she was in was starting to turn him on. He shifted trying to relieve the pressure on his erection hoping she didn't notice. For a while he was successful in his efforts to hide his reaction to having Gabriella straddling his lap and avoiding looking at her thighs bared by her dress being pushed up by the position of her legs.

Eventually though Gabriella calmed down and began to take comfort in cuddling Troy. She first noticed that he was sweating in spite of the truck's heater being broken and the air being quite cool with rain falling lightly.

As she sat back to look him in the face before asking what was wrong she inadvertently pressed against his erection.

Troy froze looking at Gabriella worriedly.

"You're aroused" she said surprised.

"It's just a physical reaction to the position we're in Gabriella" Troy said anxiously.

Gabriella nodded "So you're not turned on by crying women?" she asked almost accusingly.

"I'm not turned on by anyone except you ever" Troy replied kissing her cheek.

"But you are turned on by me crying?" Gabriella asked a little hurt.

"No" Troy protested loudly "I hate to see you cry. It makes my heart ache to hear you sobbing like that" he tried to explain. "It's just the way you were sitting in my lap."

"Do you want me to move, to get off?" she asked.

Troy raised his eyebrows making Gabriella realise that what she'd said had more than one meaning.

"I meant do you want me to hop off your lap and sit back in the seat?" she said blushing hotly.

"No" Troy said calmly. "I'm enjoying cuddling you"

"Troy we can't we're in public. Anyone could walk by and see" she protested. Her words were contradicted by the rain beginning to fall more heavily.

"Gabriella I'm not asking you to do anything except let me cuddle you. You can't believe I would try to take advantage of you being upset like that" Troy said slightly hurt.

Gabriella looked out the window at the isolated park and driving rain then turned to Troy with a smile. "Not even if I wanted you to take advantage?" she asked.

"Gabriella are you sure?"

"I want to forget about all the other things in my life for a while" she answered.

"Do you want to go home to bed?" Troy asked hopefully.

Gabriella shook her head dashing his hopes "If we go home your Mom will be there and your Dad"

"Gabriella we're married. We are allowed to have sex" Mom and Dad won't mind" Troy attempted to reassure her.

"But it will be too awkward to get up and have dinner after..." Gabriella argued.

Troy agreed trying not to show his disappointment. "So you want to make out here for a while?" he asked leaning in to kiss her.

"If your okay with that" Gabriella giggled knowing he wouldn't turn down the opportunity.

"Of course. Do you want to set some limits?" he asked knowing how easy it would be to get carried away the way he was feeling.

"No public nudity" she said decisively. "I don't want to get caught if the rain stops"

"Okay clothes stay on" Troy agreed, waiting for more direction but Gabriella didn't seem to have any more instructions for him. He thought about that for a moment, there were definite possibilities if he could turn Gabriella on enough to want to go for it. For a moment he felt bad for trying to manipulate her into having sex but he had given her the choice to set limits and she hadn't.

Troy pulled her head down and started kissing her passionately, one hand threaded in her hair and the other on her bare thigh rubbing in slow circles gradually moving higher.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016,Siobhan, Kiara, neshrox and EllaBieber19 for your support.


	116. Chapter 116

Chapter 116

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

He moved to kissing behind her ear and she slanted her neck to give him better access as he reached the edge of her knickers.

For a moment Gabriella felt self conscious, she hadn't dressed that morning intending to do this and had put on old comfortable knickers rather than the more sexy ones she wore on dates. She hoped he wasn't turned off by the sight and then remembered that he promised not to take her dress off so he probably wouldn't see them.

On his part Troy was disappointed by the thicker dry cotton layer before realising that the soft knickers were loose enough for him to push aside rubbing his fingers along her core to fondle her now bare clitoris. He remembered the first time he'd done this how good it had felt to know he could arouse her how hot and tight her vagina felt around his fingers as she came. Troy slowly entered her with his fingers they hadn't just fooled around like this in a long time and he wondered if he should just get her off this way and take care of himself later. He added a second finger and slowly bent them looking for the G spot he'd read about in one of Gabriella's magazines. He'd been a little shocked to find a magazine like that in Gabriella's room when he'd helped her pack and had slipped it in amongst his school books while she wasn't looking.

Whatever the magazine had said this seemed to be working as Gabriella began to moan and shake, her vagina contracting around his fingers as he kissed his way down her neck being careful not to leave a mark.

As Gabriella orgasmed on his fingers her grinding movements against his hand had moved her up tight against his with his hand stuck between them so every movement they made was stimulating his genitals as well as hers. He was hanging by a thread as he pulled his hand away and grabbed her bum with both hands to pull her against him trying not to thrust.

Gabriella squirmed and whimpered as her highly sensitive and still exposed clitoris brushed against the roughness of his jean zipper feeling the hardness of his erection underneath.

"Gods Gabriella sit still please" he begged.

Gabriella still coming down from her orgasm opened her eyes and looked into Troy's the naked lust and desperation clear on his face.

She reached between them to undo his jeans.

"You don't have to" he said laying his hand on hers to stop her movements. "I have clean clothes in my bag I could just..." he blushed not wanting to talk about coming in his pants.

"And then you'll need to explain why you needed to get changed on the way home from school"

Troy blushed yeah not a real good idea"

"Get the towel out of your bag and I'll use that to catch the mess"

"I have a better idea" Troy said shuffling through his bag and pulling out a condom.

"You carry those around with you at school?" Gabriella asked horrified.

"No I threw them in there when we packed up to move back to my place" he said as he quickly unzipped his pants and pushed them down far enough to put on the condom.

Gabriella went to take him in her hand when he stopped her.

"You don't want me to do it?" she asked surprised.

"Not like that" he said putting his arm around her waist and lifting her up slightly so he could position himself. Gabriella felt him at her entrance and smiled at Troy before lowering herself slowly onto his erection. "We're having sex in the truck in broad daylight" she said sitting still getting used to the intrusion and looking out the window. Rain was still falling heavily enough that no one else was in the park.

"You're still fully dressed" Troy pointed out.

Gabriella laughed "So I am" she agreed rocking against him.

Troy had been aroused for quite a while so it wasn't long before he grabbed her waist and helped her move as he slammed his hips upwards hard and fast and exploded inside her. The sensation sent Gabriella over the edge as well and she collapsed on top of him.

"I can't believe we did that" she gasped still trying to catch her breath.

Troy just smirked "But it was fantastic" he said lifting her off him as he felt himself start to harden again.

Gabriella laughed "Only you Troy could make me even think I could do something like that"

Troy cleaned them up with the towel from his gym bag and then rummaged around in the bottom of the bag.

"Happy anniversary Gabriella" Troy said handing her a small wrapped package.

"I'm sorry Troy I completely forgot" she said extremely upset with herself.

"Gabi It's okay. I knew you might have forgotten with everything going on in your life. I didn't buy you a present to make you feel bad. I just thought you might like it. It's really not much."

Gabriella looked down at the box, "Please tell me you haven't organised a romantic night out" she said in a small voice.

Troy looked confused at her reaction. "No I didn't know what would be happening with Alejandro, or how you would be feeling after saying goodbye to your Mom. I didn't know if it would be safe to be out on our own somewhere. It'll just be an ordinary dinner with Mom and Dad" he answered before asking "What's wrong?"

"I feel terrible, it's our anniversary and I agreed to have the whole scholastic decathlon team over to practice."

"Hey Gabriella, it's our anniversary and I still missed having lunch with you for basketball practice" Troy replied turning it around.

Gabriella laughed "We are a sorry pair"

"No just busy" he reassured her. "Besides you're my wife everyday today is a milestone yes but not that big a deal unless we want to make it one."

"You are such a boy" Gabriella complained.

"Well yeah" Troy said grinning. "Most of the time you're glad of that."

Gabriella had to laugh at that.

"Are you going to open your present?" Troy asked.

Troy was right the bracelets and necklace weren't much. They were cheap costume jewellery but they were pretty and they suited the style of things she liked to wear.

"They're lovely Troy" Gabriella said kissing him on the lips lightly.

"You like them. I wasn't sure if you'd want something you could keep." He said slightly anxiously.

"I can always put these away and keep them when they get too worn to wear" Gabriella reassured him. "I like them they'll go with heaps of things" she said putting them on.

She hugged him tightly.

"We better get home it's almost dinner time" Troy said before she noticed him getting aroused again.

Gabriella climbed off him back into his seat and Troy slid across behind the steering wheel.

She checked her phone again as they rode home sighing to see more missed calls. "You think the man would learn to leave a message" she said disgusted.

The phone rang again as they pulled into the drive. Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand for support as she saw who it was, and answered.

"Hi this is Gabriella"

"Gabriella it's your father" Alejandro said briskly.

"Hello" Gabriella answered unsure what else to say.

"I was wondering whether we could have dinner tonight" Alejandro asked.

"I'm sorry I've got scholastic decathlon training tonight, but Troy and I could come tomorrow."

"I have a meeting tomorrow, I could manage Wednesday"

"Troy has a game Wednesday" Gabriella replied

"Then we could meet just the two of us" Alejandro answered hopefully.

"I'm sorry Troy has a game so we can't make it" Gabriella repeated firmly.

"Thursday or Friday?"

"Just a moment I'll call you back" Gabriella said before hanging up and thumping her head softly on the dashboard.

Troy waited patiently knowing the best way to get Gabriella to confide in him was to let her sort out her thoughts first.

"He wants to have dinner Thursday or Friday" she said.

"Let's go ask Mom and Dad which night suits them" Troy suggested.

"They're happy to come out again" she asked uncertainly.

"As many times as it takes for you to get to know him enough to feel safe without them there" Troy reassured Gabriella.

A/N: Thank you to Siobhan, Kiara, neshrox, Wildcats2016, liloandstitch, MyToxicValentine and et1 for your support.


	117. Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Hey Mama, where's Dad" Troy asked.

"Hi Lucille" Gabriella echoed.

"Hi Troy, Gabriella. Your father's still at work" Lucille replied kissing each of their cheeks.

"Alejandro rang he wants to have dinner with us on Thursday or Friday" Gabriella began uncertainly.

"Could you guys come out again like last time?" Troy asked.

"I have a staff meeting Thursday night but we could certainly manage Friday. Do you want to invite him here for dinner?" Lucille asked.

"Maybe another night. If he comes here for dinner then he will recognise you if you came to a restaurant with us another time" Troy declined.

"He may recognise us anyway if he's had you investigated" Lucille warned.

"You think he'd do that?" Troy asked.

"I don't know the man but Maria warned me that she thought he would" Lucille answered. "Get washed up dinners almost ready"

Troy and Gabriella went upstairs and sat on their bed Gabriella sitting wrapped in Troy's arms while she rang her father back.

"Alejandro Montez" he answered.

"Hi it's Gabriella, we're free for dinner on Friday" she told him.

"Hello Gabriella, where would you like to eat?" Alejandro asked sounding pleased.

The Sandia Grill where we agreed to meet last time" Gabriella replied firmly not happy that he'd changed the plans last time.

"I'll make a booking for seven o'clock if that suits you" Alejandro said smoothly.

"I'll make the booking" Gabriella retorted "that way there'll be no mix up with numbers"

"Let me make the booking. I've learned my lesson Gabriella, I'll book for three people" Alejandro insisted.

"Okay then. Troy and I will meet you at the Skandia Grill at seven on Friday" Gabriella said emphasising the name of the restaurant.

"I'm happy to pick you up" Alejandro offered.

"No I'll definitely feel better if we have our own transport there in case we need to leave early" Gabriella refused warning her father that she would leave if he upset her.

"I understand, perhaps next time" Alejandro said making Gabriella and Troy who from his position could overhear both sides of the conversation frown anxiously.

"I have to go, dinner's ready" Gabriella lied.

"Goodnight I'll see you on Friday" Alejandro said calmly.

"See you" Gabriella echoed before disconnecting the call.

"It's funny he makes a big deal over wanting to have dinner to get to know me but he doesn't seem to want to talk to me on the phone. I would have thought he'd want to talk."

"Maybe he doesn't know what to say" Troy said calmingly.

"What about how are you? How was your day? How are Troy and your mother? How's school? Tell me about your friends? How are you settling in to living with Troy and his family?" Gabriella said getting angry as she listed possible questions Alejandro should have known her well enough to ask.

Troy chuckled "I see your point but to be fair you don't ask him questions either"

Gabriella thought for a moment "No I don't know what to ask and when I was on the phone I just wanted the call to be over. Do you think he feels the same that he's trying to get to know me because he feels he should and not because he really wants to?" she asked anxiously.

Troy thought before he answered "No I think he's just as anxious and awkward about the whole situation as you are and he thinks it will be easier to talk face to face" Troy said. "Remember after I met you on New Year's Eve, I really wanted to call you and I must have tried a dozen times I just couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make me sound stupid."

"I wanted you to call too but I probably would have been really awkward on the phone then too" Gabriella agreed. "Fine, I won't judge him on his calls but if he's like this still on Friday night that's it. I'll know he doesn't really want to get to know me. It's his last chance."

Dinner was quiet and companionable. Jack and Lucille agreed to going to Sandia on Friday. After dinner Troy volunteered to help his mom clean up while Gabriella got ready for the scholastic decathlon team in the dining room.

"How are things between you and Gabriella?" his mom asked as she washed dishes.

"It's good" Troy said. "She's missing her Mom of course, and she's not sure what she's going to do about Alejandro. But the two of us are fine."

"She invited a whole house full of people over on your one month anniversary?" Lucille said her tone questioning why Troy wasn't upset by that.

"Their competition is this Friday, and I'd much rather they practice here than anywhere else" Troy said calmly.

"Won't that interfere with dinner with Alejandro?" Lucille asked surprised.

"No we're meeting Alejandro at seven, Decathlon's starts at three and should be finished by five" Troy said.

"Maria always tried to go to decathlon meets" Lucille commented.

"Yeah I'm going to go" Troy said.

"Do you think she would like me to come?" Lucille asked.

Troy shrugged "I don't know. I think she would" Troy said smiling at his mother.

Taylor was the first of the decathlon team to arrive. Troy answered the door and greeted her cheerfully. "Hey Taylor are you the sacrificial lamb sent in to see if we eat you alive?" he teased.

"Not quite though several of the others did feel better about coming after I offered to come early and help set up" Taylor laughed.

"You know I'm kind of hurt. I've never been anything but nice to Gabriella's friends" Troy commented.

"To be honest I think coach scares them more than you do. And you didn't help with that by telling them he gets you up to train before dawn" Taylor reassured him.

Troy shrugged "It's true. They made me promise not to tell you that. I think they're afraid you'll think it's a good idea"

"Troy I don't do early mornings any better than Gabriella does. It's a terrible idea. Only insane people get up to train that early" Taylor said shaking her head.

"Explaining why your teams afraid of me. They think I'm insane?" Troy chuckled.

Taylor laughed. "Where's Gabriella?"

"In the dining room" Troy said walking that way.

One by one the rest of the team arrived. Troy and Jack took turns answering the door and welcoming everyone in a friendly manner before directing them through to the dining room. Troy then disappeared upstairs to do his homework. The team soon settled in to practice and forgot where exactly they were.

After a couple of hours Lucille appeared in the doorway "Hi everyone ready for a break?" she asked.

Gabriella smiled at her mother-in-law "Just about" she replied

Lucille brought in a tray with a jug of milk and freshly baked cookies. She'd no sooner put it down when Jack walked into the room "Did I smell cookies?" he asked hopefully.

"There's some in the kitchen for you and Troy" Lucille said shooing him out of the room.

Taylor laughed "He's as bad as Troy" she said.

"Yeah! They're a lot alike" Gabriella agreed.

At that moment Troy ducked his head into the room catching Gabriella's eye "Hi Troy Lucille says your cookies are in the kitchen" she said smiling.

Troy grinned "I better go before Dad eats them all then" he said smiling back at her.

"Bye Troy" Taylor called as he walked through to the kitchen.

Gabriella picked up the cookie plate and passed it around. "Better help yourselves before they come back" she said.

"If Coach's that crazy about them do you think baking him some cookies might help my grade" Jennifer asked.

Gabriella shook her head "No Jack's too professional for that. My experience is that he's a pretty fair teacher if you're giving it your best, but it really annoys him when people don't try."

"So even if I'm totally hopeless at sports he'll be okay so long as I'm trying my best" Clinton asked skeptically.

"Yeah, who's he toughest on in your class?" Gabriella asked, already suspecting the answer.

Jennifer, Bree and Clinton looked at each other "That would be me" Bree said unwillingly.

"Yeah because he thinks you're wasting your potential" Gabriella said.

"Seriously?" she said shocked.

"Yes, that's why even though Jennifer and Clinton struggle in his class more than you do he's not as tough on them" Gabriella said.

"He's still pretty tough" Jennifer protested.

"And I'll bet if your attitude improved he would let up. Coach is scrupulously fair" Gabriella said quietly.

"Easy for you to say you're dating his son" Jennifer argued.

"I was in his class my first semester at East High before I started dating Troy and he was very upset with me for befriending Troy and distracting him from basketball. He really didn't like me, but he was still fair in class so long as I was trying" Gabriella retorted.

"Taylor said he loves you" Bree said in support of her friend.

Gabriella smiled "He does now" she agreed.

"Yeah" Jack agreed from the doorway startling the group.

Gabriella picked up the cookie plate with one cookie left and handed it to him "Eat it before Troy finds out I didn't save it for him" she begged laughing.

Too late "Gabriella I'm hurt" Troy said coming in.

Gabriella picked up the cookie beside her on the table by her elbow and handed it to Troy.

"That's your cookie" Taylor protested.

Troy took a small bite of the cookie and gave the rest back. "Thanks Gabi" he said kissing her cheek. "I'll leave you guys to get back to work."

"He's kind of sweet" Jennifer said.

"He's been very good about me inviting you all over here to practice on our anniversary" Gabriella said quietly.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Siobhan, silly redhead, Wildcats2016, softball1 and dreamsister for your support.


	118. Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella said goodbye to the Taylor who was the last of the scholastic decathlon team to leave. The practice didn't last much longer once Gabriella had mentioned her anniversary. Taylor had allocated them all a topic to research before they met after school the next day. Interestingly she'd assigned Gabriella basketball and the history of the game.

Troy was sitting up in bed reading when she came in. He looked up and smiled "I thought you'd be a lot later than this" he commented smiling.

"Yes well I mentioned that it was our anniversary and Taylor cut the session short. She gave each of us a project to research before tomorrow's practice though. Do you have any information on the history of Basketball?" she asked.

Troy looked surprised but pointed to his bookshelf "the burgundy book on the second shelf is the best" he said.

Gabriella got the book but instead of opening it put it into her bag to take to school in the morning. "Do you have much more study to do?" she asked.

"No I'm just reading ahead" he answered to her surprise, getting up to put his book back in his bag.

"You were naked with all those people in the house?" Gabriella asked horrified.

Troy shrugged "It was the best way to be sure that if I was tempted to come down and annoy you I'd have time to think it through and talk myself out of it" he said simply.

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned about his state of mind.

"I'm fine Gabriella it was just odd having you here but not being allowed to come and talk to you or sit with you. I'll get used to it" Troy said lightly.

"You could have sat with us and done your homework" Gabriella said uncomfortable that she'd made him feel that way in his own home.

Troy shook his head, "I would have distracted you, annoyed Taylor and made the others uncomfortable" he argued.

Gabriella was forced to agree with this so she let the subject drop. "Do you want to do something to celebrate our anniversary tomorrow?" she asked.

"If you mean like we celebrated this afternoon I'm definitely interested" Troy said cheekily "but if you mean going out for dinner no not unless you really want to. We'll be out for dinner Friday anyway. Maybe a picnic somewhere if the weather's nice enough."

"Troy" Gabriella protested slapping his shoulder.

Troy grabbed his arm where he was slapped falling sideways in the bed as if she had knocked him over. "I'm hurt" he whined.

Gabriella laughed at his antics. "They're not predicting rain tomorrow" she said.

Troy pouted "So I need to start praying for rain?" he asked half seriously.

"Maybe" Gabriella said coyly "I'm not making any promises." She collected her night things and headed to the bathroom to change.

Troy sighed and got up to put some boxers on to sleep in.

Gabriella came back and climbed into bed cuddling up to Troy "Happy anniversary" she said kissing him softly.

"Happy anniversary Gabriella" Troy answered returning the kiss but not trying to deepen it. They continued to kiss for some time before Gabriella lay down closing her eyes. "Goodnight Troy."

Tuesday, January 7th

Troy was woken the next morning by Jack knocking on the door "Troy, you getting up to run this morning?" he asked expectantly.

"Yeah, give me a moment and I'll meet you downstairs" he called softly getting up.

He joined his father and they set off without talking. "You know this is one of the reasons the scholastic decathlon team is afraid of you?" Troy asked teasingly as they reached the halfway point.

"What?" Jack asked puzzled.

"I told them that when I missed practice you got me up at 5.30 to run and train to make up for the time missed. They think you're torturing me" Troy explained.

"Troy" Jack protested

"I didn't think they'd take it so badly" he said "They think we're both insane"

"They're in good company then your mother thinks it's insane to run tis early in the morning too" Jack commented.

"Yeah so does Gabriella. She understands that I need to though" Troy agreed.

"Do you two have plans for tonight?" Jack asked curiously.

"No I don't think so" Troy replied.

"I thought you'd want to go out and celebrate your anniversary?" he said slightly concerned.

"Yeah because one month of marriage is such an achievement" Troy said sarcastically.

"You may not think so Troy but for a couple your age it is" Jack said quietly.

"Yeah but I've been reading and some of the biggest causes of early divorce in teenagers is parental pressure, peer pressure or financial burden of moving out of home and having to support themselves. We haven't had to deal with any of those things."

"You've been researching teen divorce for a reason? Is this something you're worried about?" Jack asked concerned.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked.

"Troy why are you researching the causes of teenage divorce? Are you and Gabriella having problems?" Jack asked directly.

"Oh! No. I read up on the issues before we got married. I was just trying to look at the reasons other teen marriages failed so I could try to avoid some of those problems" he explained.

"That's very sensible" Jack complimented, impressed with Troy's forethought. "What did you find?"

"Well a lot of teen marriages that aren't arranged marriages fail quite quickly because teenagers generally fall in and out of love more easily than adults, but the statistics for long term aren't actually any worse than average" Troy began.

"So you're saying if your marriage lasts through college then it will probably last a lifetime" Jack interrupted.

"Yeah if we're still married after five years we have just as much of a chance of staying married as anyone else who gets married when they are older" Troy confirmed.

"What else did it say?" Jack asked curiously.

"The biggest issues with teenage marriage were that there is a big risk of financial issues, married teens are less likely to finish high school and much less likely to go to college and more likely to end up working in minimum wage jobs especially if they stayed married. But the biggest cause of divorce is actually the pressure the couple gets from family and friends who disapprove of the marriage which often leads to the teenagers being encouraged to break up and return home. And that the stress and reality of suddenly having moved out of home and having earn enough money for rent and living expenses and do all the cooking and cleaning is often too much for a relationship to handle. And teenagers are less likely to have lived together before marriage so they don't know each other's personal habits as well as older couples."

Jack nodded thoughtfully "And have you learned anything new about Gabriella since you got married?" he asked teasingly.

Troy thought for a moment, "I learned more about her family, and how much she hates being woken up in the morning" he said smirking.

"There are few people who enjoy waking up as early as we do when they don't need to get up" Jack said laughing "Your mother is also one of them."

Troy laughed. "Yeah she said that at Christmas" he agreed.

"I'm surprised you hadn't heard her complain about it before that" Jack replied. "So did you find out anything else about Gabriella?" he paled a bit and quickly added "that you're willing to share" Troy laughed at him "Relax Dad I wouldn't tell you that sort of stuff" he said cheekily.

"Troy" Jack reprimanded.

Troy then gave him a serious answer "Nothing big since we were married, just what vegetables she likes best and stuff. I found out a couple of things that surprised me after we got engaged. I never knew she was sixteen before that. I thought she was only six months younger than me. Or that she's doing a couple of College advanced math classes for fun."

Jack shook his head at the idea of taking extra classes for fun. "So no habits you can't live with?" he asked.

"No. Of course not" Troy said smiling.

"So we did the right thing in accepting your marriage and letting you stay with us?" Jack asked. He wanted to ask if Troy was glad to be back home but was scared he wouldn't like the answer.

"Yeah you did. And we're both very grateful. Especially now that we have to deal with Alejandro's disapproval it makes us so glad that the parents whose opinions we actually care about didn't act like that."

"How are you coping with the situation with Alejandro?"

"Gabriella's having trouble deciding whether she wants to forgive him and develop a relationship or not and she's feeling pressured because she thinks that this will be her only chance and if she doesn't forgive him now he'll get fed up and disappear again" Troy began.

Jack interrupted "Troy I know you're worried about Gabriella, but I wanted to know how you were dealing with everything."

Troy sighed "It pisses me off that he thinks he can come waltzing back into Gabriella's life after so long and disapprove of the way she lives her life and stress her out like this" he said angrily. "Part of me wants her to tell him to go to hell but I understand her point that one day she might regret not having the opportunity to get to know that side of her family if she does that."

They turned into the Bolton's yard at that time and split up to get ready for the day.

A/N: Thank you to Neshrox, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Siobhan and Kiara for your support.

ACIP I work full time and am bringing up 3 children I'm writing as quick as I can.


	119. Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

School was refreshingly normal. Taylor was stressing about decathlon practice, Troy was busy with Basketball during free period but managed to sit with Gabriella for the last five minutes of lunch.

"Hey Gabriella" he said sliding into the seat next to her halfway through the lunchbreak.

"Oh hey Troy! How was practice?" She said pushing his lunch over to him.

"It was good. Nothing out of the ordinary. Dad's in a pretty good mood" he said smiling and starting to eat.

"That's good, what are our plans for tonight?" Gabriella smiled at him.

"I have practice til five" he said speaking with his mouth full.

Gabriella let him get away with it for once. "That works I do too, pick me up from the library when you finish" she asked him.

"The school library?" Troy clarified.

"Yes, decathlon practice runs until at least five thirty" She said letting him know that he might have to wait for her.

"See you there" Troy said grinning as they separated to head for classes at opposite ends of the school.

They didn't see each other again until after practice. Troy slid into the library and sat himself down at a nearby table pulling his books out and starting his homework while he waited for Taylor to let Gabriella go.

It was almost an hour later before the librarian asked them to leave so she could lock up.

"Thanks for being so patient" Gabriella said kissing Troy on the cheek.

"No problem I would have had to do most of this stuff tonight" Troy said cheerfully. "You ready to go?"

"We're being kicked out it's gone six thirty" Gabriella told him.

They walked out to the car and Troy looked up at the sky "Not a raincloud in sight" he said pretending extreme disappointment.

Gabriella laughed and Troy gave her a hurt look. "You could at least pretend to be a little disappointed for my sake" he said.

"Let's go home Troy it will rain again one day"

They got home to find dinner already on the table. "Sorry Mom I didn't know we were eating early tonight" he apologised.

"It's not your fault Troy there's a movie showing that I want to see and your father agreed to take me tonight" Lucille said triumphantly.

"What bet did you lose this time?" Troy asked his father.

"You don't want to know" Jack said dryly.

Gabriella looked at Troy confused.

"It was Mom's expression, she looked really smug. They often bet on who chooses the movie when they go out, I can't remember the last time they went to the movies that wasn't the result of a bet" Troy explained.

They finished eating and Gabriella started to clear the table "You don't have to do that Gabriella" Lucille said smiling at the younger woman.

"It's fine Lucille, you go and get ready for your date" Gabriella said smiling at her mother in law who giggled a little as she walked up the stairs at having their trip to the movies described as a date.

Troy joined Gabriella and dried the dishes and helped finish cleaning the kitchen.

"Do you have homework to finish or do you want to watch a movie? Gabriella asked him as they finished.

Troy looked at Gabriella, "Mom and Dad will be gone for at least two hours, we have the house to ourselves" he said walking over and kissing her. "I think we could find something better to do."

Gabriella faked a yawn "Well I am rather tired" she said. "Maybe I should have an early night"

Troy watched in disbelief as Gabriella walked towards the stairs still yawning and stretching. She turned around as she reached the landing and smiled "Are you coming to bed?" she invited.

Troy looked at her hopefully and hurried to catch up. Gabriella went to the bathroom and came back wearing a short red satin spaghetti strap nightdress. Troy drew her into his arms kissing her passionately. They fell back onto the bed Troy pulling Gabriella on top of him. "Still tired?" he teased.

"You know I think I'm not as tired as I thought I was" Gabriella replied smirking as she ground against him.

Troy Grinned and flipped them so Gabriella was underneath him leaning in to kiss her again his hands moving up to cup her breasts. She arched up against him inviting his touch. Troy kissed his way down her neck to the edge of her nightdress and sucked her nipple into his mouth through the thin material.

Gabriella moaned "Troy please" she begged.

Troy pulled back and grinned "Please what?" he asked cheekily.

"Troy" Gabriella protested.

"Tell me what you want" Troy demanded.

Gabriella blushed but didn't answer.

"Gabriella talk to me" he said gently cupping her chin forcing her to look him in the eye.

"Touch me, love me" she said quietly.

"I do love you" Troy said sincerely leaning in to kiss her and wrap his arms around her. Gabriella rolled them back over so that she was in control.

"Now you need to tell me what you want" she demanded teasingly.

"I want to make love" he said.

"No tell me in detail like you were asking me to tell you" Gabriella said smirking.

Troy grinned. "I want you to put a condom on me and climb on top of me like you did yesterday and take control, I want to watch you orgasm as you ride me and feel your vagina squeezing me making me cum. And then when we've recovered a bit I want to kiss you all over and make you want me a second time and then get another condom and roll you over and thrust as deep and hard as I can driving you over the edge again and again. But I need to know that's what you want as well."

"It is" she said reaching for the draw where they kept the condoms. She rolled it carefully into place and lined him up with her entrance lowering herself slowly down onto him. Troy groaned at the sensation and took hold of her hips trying to thrust upwards. Gabriella held him still for a moment before relenting and beginning to rock slowly against him.

Troy slid his hands upwards skimming her nightdress up intending to take it off. He hesitated when he caught the self conscious look on Gabriella's face.

"Gabriella?" he asked. "Can I..." Troy stopped and reached up to turn off the light. The moonlight lit the room enough to see what he was doing bit not much more than that. He placed his hands on her thighs rubbing gently along them slowly moving higher. The gentle slow way Gabriella was controlling their joining was exquisite torture, sending him crazy with desire for more. His fingers found her core and he massaged her clitoris driving her to orgasm. Gabriella threw her head back and cried out Troy's name as she came. Troy followed also with a shout. She collapsed on Troy's chest and he wrapped his arms around her.

Getting his breath back he rolled her over and sat up to deal with the condom. Gabriella too spent to feel self conscious and lay sprawled bonelessly on the bed her nightdress bunched up around her waist. Troy grinned and leaned down to kiss her again. He kissed down her neck and to her cleavage this time pushing the straps of her nightdress off her shoulders so he could pull it down exposing her breasts to the moonlight. "So beautiful" murmured kissing first one then the other tenderly before moving back up to kiss her mouth and then down over the bunched up nightdress to kiss her labia before teasing her clitoris with the tip of his tongue. The deliberately too light touch of his tongue and feel of his breath across her exposed core had Gabriella squirming with need, thrusting her hips up in search of the firmer touches and kisses her body was craving. Troy chuckled the vibrations causing Gabriella to shudder and beg. He gave in and sucked her clitoris sucking and batting it about with his tongue before moving down a bit and lapping up the juices from her vagina as she came. He lightened his touches again as she came down from her high.

Before long he's hard again and Gabriella's arching against him still looking for more stimulation. He reached for a condom and slid it into place before thrusting inside her. Troy tried hard to go slowly and gently until Gabriella got used to the intrusion but she's soon thrusting up her hips begging him to go harder and faster.

Troy collapsed on top of Gabriella. At first she revelled in the closeness and contact but she was struggling to get her breath back with his weight on top of her.

"Troy you're too heavy" she gasped.

"Sorry" Troy said as he rolled over before sitting up and disposing of the condom just as he heard the sound of the garage door opening. "That was good timing, Mom and Dad are home" he said chuckling.

Gabriella pulled the top of her nightdress back into place and dragged the blankets up over herself quickly causing Troy to laugh.

"The door's shut Gabriella they won't come in without knocking" he told her as he got his laughter under control.

"That's not the point" Gabriella said.

Troy lay back down and drew her into his arms "Goodnight Gabriella. I love you" he whispered.

"I love you Troy" she replied kissing him chastely.

They drifted off to sleep both perfectly happy.

"Looks like the kids have gone to bed already" Lucille commented as they pulled into the driveway.

Jack laughed "I'd bet they headed up to bed as soon as we left the house" he said

"Gabriella would have finished cleaning up the kitchen" Lucille argued surprised. "And neither of them seemed tired at dinner"

"Lucille I was surprised that we never hear them having sex, I'm betting they would have taken advantage of the fact they were alone in the house" Jack said

They walked into the house to find the kitchen clean and tidy and Troy and Gabriella's cell phones both sitting on the bench.

"It looks like you might be right" Lucille admitted thoughtfully. "Maybe we should go out more often" she smiled at her husband.

"Sounds like a plan" Jack said taking his wife in his arms and kissing her passionately. "Or we could just stay in and make some noise of our own"

"Jack" Lucille protested. "Troy and Gabriella have been really considerate, we can't do that to them."

"Troy's never complained before" Jack said bluntly.

"Of course he hasn't. He'd be too embarrassed to bring it up when it was just himself who heard us. But if it was embarrassing Gabriella as well he might complain. Do you really want that to happen?"

"No" Jack admitted sighing. "Does that mean we have to wait until Troy and Gabriella are out?" he asked disappointed.

"Yes I think it does" Lucille said also disappointed. They made their way to bed and settled in to sleep, both resolving to take advantage of the next time Troy and Gabriella went out for the evening.

A/N: Sorry about the delay.

Thank you to Neshrox, Wildcats2016, Kiara, Siobhan, Pumpkinking5, Barnsy, Tiffboskie01, beblobs, TARDISlover6, khunfuse and IamGarcia for your support.


	120. Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Wednesday 8th January

Jack was grumpy next morning when Troy woke him up to run. Troy ignored his mood figuring he was tired and they ran without their usual conversation. Arriving back at the house Troy quickly got ready for school before having breakfast with Gabriella and his Mom.

"We'll be home late, I have a game this afternoon" he reminded his mother.

"A home game? What time does it start?"Lucille asked.

"Yeah against the Eldorado Eagles at three o'clock." Troy clarified.

"I have an appointment at two but I'll try to get there" Lucille promised.

Troy grinned "Thanks Mom. Don't sweat it too much if you can't" he said aware of how much of an effort his mother made to attend his games and how unpredictable her job could be at times.

"We're going to be late for school if we don't get going" Gabriella scolded. "Have a nice day Lucille I'll see you at the game if you make it."

Troy grabbed his last piece of toast and shoved it in his mouth. "Bye Mom" he called as he swallowed walking out the door.

"Bye Troy, Bye Gabriella" Lucille said laughing at her son who was happily being organised so efficiently and effortlessly by his wife.

East High was in full basketball mode by the time Troy and Gabriella arrived with every second person wanting to shake Troy's hand or wish him luck. He kept his left arm wrapped firmly around Gabriella who snuggled close to stop people from accidentally knocking her out of the way in order to reach him. They fought their way through to homeroom stopping to greet Chad and Taylor who were in the middle of another minor row because Taylor was trying to schedule Decathlon practice that afternoon at the same time as the game.

"I'm sorry Taylor but I'm going to the game, and Martha's cheerleading so she has to go too" Gabriella said firmly drawing Taylor away from Chad to end their argument before they got detention.

"What's going on you know Chad likes you to come to the game?" she asked her friend.

"Decathlon's on Friday! We need the practice" Taylor argued.

"We've done tons of practice, we'll be fine" Gabriella dismissed.

"Decathlon's important" Taylor stated.

"So is Basketball to Troy and Chad. And our support is important to them too" Gabriella said firmly.

"There's only two more days until the meet" Taylor said anxiously.

"And the game starts at three, we can still practice form four til six before we meet the guys for pizza" Gabriella argued.

The bell rang and Ms Darbus called the class to attention ending the argument for the time being.

Gabriella met Troy on the rooftop for lunch with the food Lucille had helped her prepare for them. "Hey Troy how're you doing?" she asked sitting herself down so she could lean back on Troy as he leaned up against the wall.

Troy smiled "better now I'm away from everyone" he admitted. "But weren't you supposed to be at decathlon practice?" he asked worried that he would cause problems between Gabriella and her best friend.

"No Taylor had student body president commitments so I'm free. She did encourage us to meet in the library without her but I doubt many people did. Unfortunately I do have decathlon practice in the science classroom this afternoon straight after the game so I won't be able to meet you."

"Who will protect me if you're not there?" Troy said pretending to act fearful.

Gabriella laughed "I'm sure it won't be that bad" she said in a voice you would use to talk to a baby.

Troy laughed "You didn't see what it was like last time you didn't come to a game. I had to leave my car here and ride home with Dad" he admitted.

"That was before we were married when everyone thought we were having problems" Gabriella dismissed.

Troy agreed and let the subject drop. "Do you still want to go for dinner with the team?" he asked.

"Yeah I told Taylor I'd practice from four til six" Gabriella replied. "But you'd better come and get me in case we get carried away."

Troy laughed at the idea of being carried away by studying but knew with Taylor and Gabriella together it was a real possibility.

"Should I pick you up on the way or do you want to come home first?" he asked.

Gabriella frowned for a moment, "Better pick me up on you way, otherwise I don't know how long it will take for Taylor to let me go"

"Isn't Taylor planning on coming tonight? Are she and Chad having problems?" Troy asked concerned.

"I haven't heard that they are but Chad looked pretty pissed off this morning" Gabriella said seriously. "It's possible Taylor's just stressed out about the decathlon again. Has he said anything to you about their argument?" she asked.

"No he was really focused on training and talking about the game" Troy replied.

"Is that denial?" Gabriella asked.

"I don't think so. He's always like this on game day" Troy said calmingly. "Enough stressing about Taylor and Chad, there's nothing we can do unless they admit there's a problem." He finished eating and wrapped his arms around her.

Gabriella relaxed into his embrace turning her head up to kiss him.

Troy deliberately kept the kiss from becoming heated knowing that they didn't have very long until the start of afternoon classes and they just enjoyed the peace of being with someone they knew loved and supported them unconditionally.

Time seemed to move more slowly than normal that afternoon not helped by having history which Troy considered his most boring class. Troy, hyped for the upcoming basketball game and concerned about his friend struggled to concentrate and was lucky his teacher was a basketball fan otherwise he may have found himself in detention. As soon as the bell rang he ran for the gym to meet with the team and get ready to play.

The gym was almost full by the time Lucille arrived. She was beginning to think she'd have to sit on the opposition side when Gabriella called her over to the seat she'd been saving.

"Hi Gabriella, thanks for saving me a seat"

"No problem Lucille. Troy will be glad you could make it"

"Troy and Jack both know I'll come whenever I can, but I was glad to have an excuse today. The couple I was showing to were obviously not ready commit to buying, they had totally different tastes in houses."

"Does that happen often?"

"Yes to some extent though the couple are rarely as vicious about each other as today's couple. Usually though you can get a couple to prioritise what's most important to each of them and come to some sort of compromise. You and Troy are good at that."

Gabriella smiled. "

Troy smiled as the team came out on the court and he saw Gabriella and his Mom sitting together talking. He waved to them then turned his attention to the game. The Eagles were a good team and put up tough competition but Troy was in top form and in the end the Wildcats won by three points.

Gabriella disappeared as soon as the final siren went heading to the science room as she'd promised Taylor. Lucille headed down to greet Jack and to step in if any of Troy's fan girls looked to be giving him a hard time.

Troy was still busy greeting the other team, being congratulated by east high students and generally enjoying the victory but Jack was busy talking to scouts.

Gabriella joined the decathlon team in the science room and joined in the conversation without apologising. The team knew where she'd been. Taylor and a couple of the others gave her dirty looks which she ignored. The practice session went fairly smoothly until Gabriella unknowingly asked a question the group had already discussed while she was at the basketball game.

"If you'd bothered to come to practice on time you'd already know that" Taylor said waspishly.

"You knew I was going to the game first" Gabriella said shocked at Taylor's vehemence.

"So it's okay to blow off your commitments to watch a basketball game? Your team is depending on you" Taylor scolded her friend.

"You're being unreasonable I always go to Troy's games. He says he plays better when I'm there. If we had a meet at the same time like last year it would be different but you knew that I'm never going to miss a game for practice when you scheduled it."

"You spend all your time supporting Troy these days. I'm looking for my friend Gabriella but all I'm seeing is Mrs Troy Bolton" Taylor said angrily.

"That's unfair! Troy ran one hundred suicides as punishment for missing training to come to our last meet" she argued. "He supports me as much as I support him" Gabriella retorted.

The younger members of the team began quietly packing their things preparing to leave the friends to fight in privacy.

A/N: Thankyou to Neshrox, Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, Siobhan and dreamsister for your support.


	121. Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"What is going on Taylor?" Gabriella asked trying to keep her temper and get to the bottom of the problem. "You fought with Chad, refused to come to the game and now are criticizing me for supporting Troy"

"Don't you think you should have more in your life than being Troy's wife?" Taylor demanded.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked perplexed why her friend would make such an accusation.

"You're whole life revolves around Troy. I only see you now when Troy's busy with Basketball. You used to have dreams and ambitions of your own" Taylor complained.

"That's not true. We've spent a lot of time practicing for decathlon while Troy sits quietly and waits for me in the library. You came over for practice on our anniversary for heaven sake and Troy didn't complain. I know I've been busy lately but that's more because I'm dealing with my father showing up than anything to do with Troy. And as for ambitions what ambition are you accusing me of giving up?" Gabriella tried to reason.

"To make a life of your own achieve things for yourself not just as part of a couple" Taylor stated.

"Taylor I haven't changes my classes because I got married, I haven't given up any of my extracurricular activities, I'm going to Stanford which has always been my first choice. I'll choose my courses there for my future. Troy won't influence that. I haven't compromised my future plans or ambitions in any way. What is really the matter?" Gabriella asked.

"So you really think you can have it all?" Taylor asked surprised.

"I do. Troy has supported me every step of the way and we will both make some compromises in choosing not to live on campus to be together. I know it won't be easy but it is possible" Gabriella said determinedly.

"And all you've had to give up so far is time with your friends" Taylor muttered.

"Taylor, it's only been the last week that we haven't spent much time with you. In that week I have packed and moved house, said goodbye to my mother who I won't see for months and had to deal with my father turning up and trying to but in on my life. I'm sorry I haven't spent time with you or come to decathlon practice as often as you would like but I'm doing my best" Gabriella said frustrated.

"It's alright for you, the rest of us are dependent on reaching the decathlon finals to impress the scholarship boards or even to get in to our first choices. We need to win this week" Taylor shouted.

Gabriella looked taken aback. Was she finally hearing the real cause of Taylor's fit of temper? "What happened? Did you hear from Yale?" she asked hesitantly.

Taylor shook her head "No not yet."

"Then what is it?" Gabriella asked concerned.

"I got accepted at Harvard" Taylor mumbled.

"That's great" she caught Taylor's dejected look "Isn't it?" she said confused by her friend's reaction.

"I should have heard from Yale by now" she said dejectedly.

"What was Harvard offering?" Gabriella asked trying to be positive.

"Just early acceptance" Taylor said bluntly.

"If you got an early offer from Harvard then you're sure to get offers from Stanford and Yale" Gabriella tried to encourage her friend.

"Scholarship offers will all have gone out by now" Taylor said hopelessly.

Though she didn't say anything, Gabriella had to agree when she thought about the offers she'd received, she hadn't got any in the last few weeks though she had about a dozen or more in November and early December.

"There are still all the bursaries and things you have applied for" she reminded her friend.

"My Dad lost his job. Even if I get all the bursaries I applied for I don't know if I can afford to go to Harvard or Yale without a scholarship. I need to win the scholastic decathlon prize." Taylor admitted tearfully.

"That's why you've been stressing out about practicing so much" Gabriella realized. "But you need to calm down or your anxiety will shoot yourself in the foot. We should be able to win this round easily. Our team is good Taylor, one of the best teams I've been on" she said hugging her friend.

"You're right it's just so important" Taylor replied.

"I know. I promise I will do my best to come to all the practices from now on so long as you don't schedule them at the same time as Basketball games" Gabriella said.

"Yeah I shouldn't have got upset with you about that. I'm sorry Gabriella" Taylor apologised sincerely.

"I'm sorry too, for not seeing that you needed my support" Gabriella replied hugging her friend again.

"So is this what you got upset with Chad about too?" Gabriella asked hesitantly not wanting to start another argument.

"He doesn't care about his future at all. All he cares about is basketball" Taylor said crossly.

"Basketball is his future" Gabriella pointed out. "Chad's never going to be academic but he is likely to obtain at least a partial Basketball scholarship if he continues to play well."

Taylor sighed. "It's so hard to see him goofing off all the time" she said irritated.

"Taylor Chad is serious about basketball, he never misses a practice and he has caught the attention of some of the scouts. He has a good chance of getting a decent offer. Basketball is not goofing off to Chad or Troy" Gabriella said calmly. "You knew when you started dating him what he was like."

"Is it too late to plead insanity?" Taylor joked weakly.

"For cracking up today or for dating Chad in the first place?" Gabriella asked amused.

"Umm both" Taylor replied hopefully.

"I think you've let your worries about your college plans overflow onto Chad and you don't need to. Chad has his future sorted, he's going to U of A and if he doesn't get enough of a scholarship to afford living on campus he could stay at home and commute" Gabriella tried to reassure her.

Taylor sighed "Yeah I think you're right. Do you think he'll forgive me?"

"You're forgiven for today from my point of view. But I think you and Chad have some talking to do." Gabriella looked around at the now empty room, only now noticing that everyone had gone. "Well it looks like practice is over. Are you coming to dinner to celebrate the win today?"

"I suppose I should I need to apologise to Chad as well" Taylor said sighing "Though I have a lot of study to do tonight."

"Just don't overdo it" Gabriella warned. "There's no point knowing all the answers if you're too sleepy to pay attention to the questions and end up not answering what they actually ask. The judges can be tricky with their questions and I've seen that happen."

"Yes Mom" Taylor said cheekily.

"Your mother has a point. You need to look after yourself otherwise you'll get sick and then you will end up getting behind" Gabriella scolded.

They exited the room to find Troy sitting in the hallway reading his science book.

"What are you doing here?" Taylor asked surprised.

"Reading my science homework while I wait for Gabriella" Troy said calmly as though there wasn't a whole restaurant full of people waiting for him.

"How long have you been waiting?" Gabriella asked hoping he hadn't heard their argument.

Troy shrugged "Not long. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah! Can we give you a lift Taylor?" Gabriella offered.

"Umm! Yeah if you don't mind" Taylor replied uncertainly.

"Are you coming for pizza with the team or am I dropping you home" Troy asked cheerfully as they got into his truck.

Taylor couldn't resist the opportunity to tease Troy a little "Better go straight for pizza I don't want to risk breaking down"

"Hey you accepted the lift. Don't diss the ride" Troy snarked back.

They arrived at the party and Troy was quickly surrounded by teammates wanting to talk about the victory and Gabriella and Taylor were soon left to their own devices. They grabbed seats with Kelsi and Ryan and quickly fell into general conversation about the upcoming theatre production.

Dinner was boisterous and loud. Troy did his duty as captain and spent a little time at each table congratulating his teammates on plays that they had made. Taylor came over and sat with Gabriella "It's like watching a king hold court" she said sarcastically.

"No" Gabriella corrected her "We are watching the team captain take care of his team, and show them that he appreciates each of their contributions. This is why the team does so well. Troy puts a lot of effort into fostering their teamwork and camaraderie."

The team was in high spirits making the meal cheerful, loud and boisterous. Taylor was too strung out to enjoy the atmosphere but Gabriella threw herself into it to distract herself from worrying about what Alejandro might be up to. Troy was in constant demand but still took the time to make sure Gabriella wasn't feeling neglected and was enjoying herself.

Jack arrived home after meeting with the scouts and completing his various other after game duties to find that Lucille surprisingly hadn't even begun cooking dinner.

"Is something wrong Honey?" he asked concerned.

"No" she said smiling. "I just figured that with Troy and Gabriella out for a while you might have a better use for our time. We can order take out later" she said leading him to the stairs.

Jack thought back to the conversation they'd had as they arrived home from the movie the night before about Troy and Gabriella taking advantage of their being out of the house and how it would be inconsiderate to embarrass Gabriella by putting her in the situation of overhearing the two of them when Troy and Gabriella had clearly been trying not to do it to Jack and Lucille.

"Are you suggesting we should follow Troy and Gabriella's example and have an early night because they're not home?" he asked hopefully.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting. Unless you're too hungry to go to bed before dinner" Lucille said smiling.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Neshrox, Wildcats2016, Siobhan, Kiara, Zanessasarus14, and i heart v-hudgens for your support.


	122. Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy and Gabriella were surprised not to find Jack and Lucille downstairs when they got home.

"You don't suppose anything is wrong do you?" Gabriella asked anxiously.

"I had my cell on all night they would have called if it was something important" Troy reassured her taking out his phone and checking for texts and missed calls. "They haven't called" he said relieved. He checked the garage surprised to find both cars inside."Their cars are here maybe they're having an early night" Troy suggested.

He blushed with embarrassment as the thought crossed his mind that his parents might have been taking advantage of being alone in the house the same way that he and Gabriella did.

"What is it Troy? Are you alright?" Gabriella asked concerned.

Troy decided that he didn't want to have this conversation within hearing possible distance of the master bedroom and dragged Gabriella into the downstairs bathroom shutting the door behind them.

"Troy talk to me what's going on?" Gabriella demanded.

"I think I know what happened with Mom and Dad" Troy said quietly.

"What?" Gabriella asked impatiently.

"I think Mom and Dad did the same thing tonight that we did yesterday" Troy explained blushing deeper.

Gabriella looked at him blankly for a moment before understanding what he was trying to say.

"You think..." she began incredulously only to be interrupted by Troy holding his finger to her lips.

"Shh they're probably still awake" he said.

"You really think they went upstairs and had sex because we weren't home?" Gabriella whispered.

Troy shrugged "I haven't heard them since we moved back in" he said bluntly.

"And you did before?" Gabriella asked shocked.

"Sometimes" Troy admitted blushing again.

"I can't believe we're talking about this" Gabriella all but stuttered.

"Mom and Dad are married Gabriella, I grew up thinking it was normal to overhear them even before I was old enough to understand what I was hearing" Troy reminded her.

"So what do we do?" Gabriella asked uncertainly.

Troy shrugged "The same as Mom and Dad did this morning, pretend we didn't notice anything" he said bluntly.

Gabriella blushed at the realisation that even though Jack and Lucille couldn't have heard them last night, the older Boltons did know what their son and daughter-in-law had been doing.

"Let's go up to bed? Do you have any work you need to finish for tomorrow?" Troy asked trying to concentrate on more mundane issues.

"Of course not" Gabriella scoffed "Do you?"

"Surprisingly no" Troy replied.

"Being married is definitely good for your study habits" Gabriella teased.

Troy grinned "Yeah it is. I'm gonna get straight A's if this keeps up" he commented sticking out his tongue.

Gabriella snorted in disbelief.

"You are good for me Gabriella. I'm a better person for loving you" he said seriously.

"I love you Troy. You bring out the best in me too."

They went up and quietly got ready for bed not wanting to wake Jack and Lucille if they were sleeping. They were lying in bed gently kissing when they heard footsteps go past their door and down the stairs followed by soft laughter and the sounds of cooking.

"Mom better not be making cookies" Troy said sleepily.

"She wouldn't do that" Gabriella reassured him "She knows you'd come down if you smelled cookies."

Troy rolled over pinning her to the bed and kissing her passionately. "Mom and Dad will be downstairs for a while if they're cooking dinner" he said suggestively.

"Troy" Gabriella protested laughing but happily kissed him back.

Troy moved down to nibble behind her ear and down her neck.

"Careful" Gabriella reminded him not wanting to have to hide his love bites.

Troy obligingly moved down to kissing the top slope of her breasts while he pushed down her camisole top and biting and sucking gently but passionately on skin he knew would be covered by her clothes no matter what she chose to wear.

Gabriella moaned and arched her back to allow him easier access. Troy lifted his head and grinned at her "Shh" he said cheekily "You need to be quiet or I'll stop."

Gabriella swatted his arm "Stop teasing" she scolded.

"Yes Ma'am" Troy replied lowering his mouth to suckle her nipple and pushing his hand into the front of her sleep shorts to finger her clit.

Gabriella remembered Troy biting his hand at Christmas to keep silent and shoved her left hand into her mouth. Her right hand cupped the back of Troy's head playing with his hair and keeping him in place for a few moments.

Feeling guilty at the fact that again she was the one who had been pleasured. She rolled them over so she was lying on top of Troy kissing him deeply before slowly kissing and biting her way down his body. "Careful" he warned knowing that his team would tease him mercilessly about bite marks anywhere on his chest or stomach.

Pushing his boxers down to mid thigh Gabriella took him in hand and started moving her hands excruciatingly slowly while fondling his testicles with her other hand. Still kissing her way downwards she bypassed his erection instead kissing his inner thigh biting less gently than she had intended. Troy found the slight pain more of a turn on than he had expected and arched off the bed coming without warning unable to prevent himself from shouting.

Luckily jack and Lucille either didn't hear them or decided to ignore it and the young couple were left alone. Troy cursed as he looked down and saw the mess he'd made. "Shit! We're going to need clean sheets" he said getting up to fetch them from the hall closet.

"Don't you think you should at least clean up a little and put some pants on before you go out there?" Gabriella asked torn between amusement and shock that Troy could even contemplate roaming around the house naked and covered in cum when his parents were just downstairs.

Troy blushed "Umm Yeah I wasn't thinking.." he mumbled cleaning himself up with a corner of the sheet and pulling on rarely used sleep pants.

He hurried out and collected clean bedding breathing a sigh of relief that he wasn't caught by his parents.

Gabriella quickly helped him remake the bed and they climbed back in.

"Umm... Gabriella...I'm sorry" Troy began hesitantly.

"What on earth for? Gabriella interrupted surprised.

"Well I really enjoyed what you did and I didn't even thank you or offer to please you afterwards or tell you how great it was. I just freaked out about the sheets. I acted like a real jerk, I'm sorry" Troy apologised.

Gabriella laughed. "It's okay Troy. I was a bit freaked out by the idea of being caught changing the sheets too. And you didn't have to tell me how much you enjoyed yourself it was kind of obvious at the time" Gabriella teased.

"Do you want..."

Gabriella cut him off with a kiss. "Troy it's late and we both have a busy day tomorrow, let's just get some sleep. Besides your parents could be coming upstairs any minute now"

"It doesn't feel right not to... you know... you too"

"Troy it's okay. You always take care of me I wanted to take care of you this time."

"I know but..."

"I promise to find some time to let you return the favour tomorrow" she said.

Troy grinned but said thoughtfully "You're going to be awfully busy with decathlon tomorrow. Taylor's freaking out and you need to be there for her not worrying about trying to find an opportunity for us to be alone. And then on Friday we have decathlon and dinner with Alejandro how about you make it up to me on the weekend sometime."

"Okay. You have a point the next few days will be crazy, and I don't want to disappear and stress out Taylor anymore than she already is"

"We better try to get some sleep" Troy suggested.

Gabriella nodded and snuggled into his arms.

Troy didn't have formal basketball practice the next afternoon because Jack had a staff meeting so he headed straight home alone to put the sheets on to the wash before his Mom got home from work. He put the now clean sheets through the drier then folded and returned them to the closet.

Knowing that the school would be locked up at 6 o'clock, Troy arrived at school to pick up Gabriella who was at decathlon practice in the science room.

"Sorry Troy I'm not ready to come home. We're heading to Taylor's to practice some more" Gabriella said apologetically.

"That's fine I'll drive you to Taylor's" he said calmly. "Does anyone else need a ride?"

Clinton nodded "I do if you don't mind" he said hesitantly.

"Sure. Anyone else? You'll have to sit on Clinton's lap though" Troy said cheerfully.

"I will" Jennifer said laughing.

"Okay if you take those three, and Jake takes the sophomores then the rest can come with me" Taylor quickly organised the rest but couldn't resist a last minute dig at Troy "At least with those two on board we'll know that his truck breaking down will be genuine."

Troy just laughed. "Bye Taylor, bye everyone" he called as he walked across the car park.

Troy's truck behaved itself and he soon pulled up in front of Taylor's house. Jennifer and Clinton climbed out and went to wait on the porch giving Troy and Gabriella some privacy.

"Do they expect us to start making out?" Troy asked laughing as he wrapped his arm around his wife.

"I hope not" Gabriella blushed at the idea but still snuggled into his side. "Thanks for not making a fuss when Taylor decided to drag us here for more practice"

"I will make a fuss if she keeps you here too long without feeding you" Troy warned.

Gabriella giggled "I don't think Mrs McKessie would let us go hungry" she said.

"If she's home" Troy agreed knowing Mrs McKessie like all the groups mothers kept the freezer stocked ready to feed a large group without notice.

Taylor arrived and Gabriella moved to get out of the truck. Troy leaned across to kiss her cheek. "Call me when you're finished and I'll come get you"

"Thanks Troy. See you soon."

"Bye Gabriella"

A/N: Thank you to Neshrox, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, Siobhan and fanfREAK1 for your support.

Siobhan to answer your question I simply don't know, at least another ten but I've been thinking that since chapter 65.


	123. Chapter 123

Chapter 123

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

It was nearly ten o'clock when Gabriella called

"Hi Gabriella are you ready to come home?" Troy asked heading out to his truck.

"Hi Troy, we're finished for the night" she agreed.

"Be there in ten" he said before hanging up to concentrate on driving.

The others had left by the time Troy got to the McKessie's to pick up Gabriella and Troy was apologetic.

"I'm sorry for taking so long Mrs McKessie. I hope you haven't stayed up waiting for Gabriella to leave" he said.

"It's not a problem Troy. Gabriella's always welcome here" Mrs McKessie replied smiling at his good manners.

"It's actually my fault she didn't call you earlier Troy. Gabriella and I were busy talking after the others left" Taylor explained.

Troy smiled "So it wasn't all studying" he said.

"I'm sorry Troy have you been sitting up waiting to come and get me?" Gabriella asked.

"No Gabriella I've been playing Xbox since I finished my homework" Troy replied looking down.

"Well let's go so you can get back to it" Gabriella said laughing. "Bye Mrs McKessie, bye Taylor"

"Goodnight Gabriella, Troy" Mrs McKessie said smiling at her daughter's friend.

"Goodnight Mrs McKessie. See you tomorrow Taylor" Troy replied.

"See you tomorrow" Taylor added yawning.

Troy and Gabriella climbed into his truck and Troy started the engine (not admitting even to himself the relief he felt when it did in fact start)

"Troy can we stop for a while at the park?" asked Gabriella.

"Why?" Troy asked confused.

"Where we parked on Monday" Gabriella hinted.

Troy grinned "You're saying you wanna go 'parking'?" he said smirking.

Gabriella blushed and nodded.

Troy pulled over to the side of the road "We can if you want Gabriella but before you decide I need to warn you that there is a very real possibility that my truck won't start again if I turn the engine off. I tried to fix it earlier but it needs new spark plugs" he said seriously.

"So you weren't playing Xbox?" Gabriella asked smirking.

"Do you think I'd admit to Taylor that my truck's about to break down again?" Troy asked incredulously.

Gabriella laughed knowing how much Troy loved his truck.

"So if we go to the park you're saying there's a good chance we might need to walk home afterwards?" Gabriella clarified thinking that wasn't worth Troy's serious expression and warning.

"And that if we leave the truck at the park then Dad will want to know where it is" Troy said plainly.

"And what we were doing there?" Gabriella realised.

"I don't think he would need to ask what we were doing parking there late at night" Troy said dryly.

Gabriella thought for a moment "I think we should go home" she said in a small voice hating the fact she was turning Troy down for such a reason.

Troy put the car back in gear and headed for the house without saying anything.

"I'm sorry Troy" Gabriella whispered.

"It's fine Gabriella. You were going to wait until over the weekend anyway remember" Troy said smiling at his wife.

He pulled up in front of the Bolton House turning off the engine before pulling Gabriella into his arms.

"I love you Gabriella" he said kissing her lightly.

"I love you too Troy" she said settling into his embrace.

"We should go in" Troy commented idly rubbing his hand up and down Gabriella's back.

"Yeah" she agreed raising her face up to kiss Troy.

"Gabriella if you wanted to do that we should have gone to the park. Mom or Dad will have heard us arrive and be expecting us to come inside." Troy warned her returning the kiss.

Gabriella pulled away eventually but not before causing Troy some problems with the fit of his jeans. "You're right let's go in" she said.

Troy got out and walked around to open the door for Gabriella.

"You didn't jump in and out of the tray like usual" Gabriella stated questioningly.

"Didn't feel like it" Troy brushed off the enquiry refusing to admit that his jeans were currently too tight to do it.

They entered the house and Troy excused himself to use the bathroom downstairs while Gabriella showered and got ready for bed. Sighing he pushed his pants down and took himself in hand. He had rarely done this since his wedding and always felt a little guilty as though he were cheating on Gabriella even when he was fantasising about her while he masturbated. But tonight he needed to, there was no chance he would be able to go up to bed without revealing his erection to Gabriella and he didn't want to make his wife feel bad for getting him in this state or feel pressured to follow through even though she was uncomfortable with making love with his parents in the house.

Troy closed his eyes pulling up the memory of Gabriella at Rob and Sandra's as she stood there in the pale blue lingerie, how she'd knelt before him and taken him into her mouth.

A few strokes were all it took and Troy quickly cleaned himself up hoping Gabriella hadn't realised what he'd been doing.

Whether she realised or not, Gabriella didn't say anything, returning from her shower dressed in her pyjamas and climbing into bed where Troy was waiting. She pulled out a book and began to take notes.

"More studying?" Troy asked amused.

"I've got assignments due for both my correspondence classes that I have to email in tomorrow." Gabriella explained.

"And you're only starting it now?" Troy asked astonished.

"The other one's finished and this one should take less than an hour" Gabriella said. "I could do it tomorrow if you want to get to sleep" she offered.

"No you better get it done now. Taylor will probably keep you busy most of the day" Troy said pulling out his math book to begin next week's homework.

"I thought you said you'd finished your homework?" Gabriella asked suspiciously.

"I have Gabriella. This is next week's chapter" Troy said trying to sound as if it wasn't unheard of for him to work ahead.

Gabriella leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before returning to her own work. As she'd predicted fifty minutes later she finished the assignment draft ready to type the next day and packed up her books. She looked over to ask Troy if he was ready for her to turn out the light only to find him already sleeping still sitting up.

"Troy wake up! You need to lie down properly, sleeping like that will hurt your neck" she said shaking his arm slightly.

Troy groaned but lay down like she'd asked without fully waking so Gabriella turned out the light and cuddled up to him quickly falling asleep herself.

Friday 10th January

Friday started out calmly enough. Gabriella got up when Troy left to type up and email in her assignment while he and Jack were running. Finishing that and arriving in the kitchen before Lucille she decided to cook waffles for breakfast. She'd just finished the first batch when Lucille came down.

"Gabriella" she exclaimed "this is a lovely surprise but what are you doing up so early. Did the boys wake you? Or are you worried about dinner tonight? Jack and I will be there the whole time if you need us."

"Neither really, I had to get up and type up and email in an assignment for one of my college courses. I finished quicker than I expected and decided to cook breakfast"

"Well I do appreciate the morning off cooking but you mustn't feel that you need to" Lucille said gratefully.

"I need the practice. Troy and I will be on our own next year and we only know how to make a couple of simple things."

"Well how about you and I spend some time together on the weekend and I'll teach you to make some of the stews and casseroles I normally keep in the freezer? They're easy to make up in large batches when I have time and then I can pull one out to heat up when I'm not home in time to cook dinner" Lucille offered.

Gabriella smiled "That would be great" she said admiring how organised Lucille was. "Maybe you could teach me to make some of Troy's favourites so e doesn't get too homesick when we're in California?"

Lucille laughingly agreed just as Troy and Jack arrived home and had to be scolded into showering before breakfast once they'd smelled the waffles.

Gabriella was glad she finished her assignment already when Taylor commandeered her attention the moment they arrived at school.

"Calm down Taylor" she begged. "You're going to make yourself sick in the stomach at this rate."

"I just can't help worrying, we need to win today to have any hope of ending at the top of our group."

"We're as prepared as we can be. You're stressing out the rest of the team like this. Calm down and let us all get on with it."

"Okay meet you in Science room three for free period" Taylor demanded.

Gabriella rolled her eyes but agreed as the bell rang and Ms Darbus called the class to order.

Taylor was upset at the end of free period when Gabriella refused to practice again over the lunch break and accused Gabriella of running off to make out with Troy on the rooftop.

"I'm not abandoning you. I'll happily have lunch with the team but no more cramming and stressing out. We need a break before the competition. We all need to eat otherwise we'll be lightheaded and unable to concentrate by the time for the competition" Gabriella stated firmly.

"But there's so many things left we should have practiced" Taylor protested.

"Taylor. We'll be fine. We've done a lot more practice for this round than we did last round. It's too late to learn anything more. We know the stuff" Gabriella argued.

"So where do you want to meet" Taylor said conceding defeat.

"How about at the south side of the quad. We'll have a peaceful lunch together and all talk about schoolwork, college acceptances and decathlon will be banned. It will be a good opportunity to get to know the rest of the team better" Gabriella suggested.

"Next you'll be suggesting we do some team building exercises" Taylor scoffed.

Gabriella laughed "Not quite" she disagreed "but one of the reasons the Basketball and Junior Basketball teams are so successful is the amount of time they spend together just hanging out. They all learn to really depend on each other and know each person's strengths and weaknesses on and off the court" Gabriella reminded her.

The others agreed to meet for lunch glad that Gabriella had spoken up to prevent Taylor from quizzing them instead of allowing them to eat.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Neshrox, Wildcats2016, Siobhan and Kiara for your support.


	124. Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella dragged Troy and Chad to lunch with the decathlon team against their protests. It wasn't that Troy didn't want to have lunch with Gabriella and her friends but that he thought he should be in the gym practicing to make up for the time he would miss that afternoon to go to the decathlon. Troy was aware that Maria had always made the effort to attend competitions in the past and that Gabriella would be missing that support for the first time that afternoon and had already spoken to his father that morning about missing afterschool practice to support his wife.

Most of the decathlon team had brought along a friend and the gathering was going smoothly with Gabriella, Troy and Chad quickly changing the subject whenever talk strayed to the afternoon's competition. Taylor soon found that it was better to avoid the topic rather than be shouted over or have the boys start making ridiculous statements or Chad start embarrassing her by kissing her in public to shut her up.

She had to admit at the end of the lunchbreak that she did feel more confident and relaxed.

Gabriella walked into the science room before the competition and almost burst into tears. Sitting in the front row were Jack, Lucille and Troy. Behind them Chad was sitting with Mrs McKessie. She rushed over and hugged Troy and Lucille hesitating to hug Jack until he stood up and hugged her. "Good luck Gabriella" he said smiling.

"Thanks for coming. I thought you had basketball practice" Gabriella said.

"Yes well my daughter had a competition on. The assistants can run practice tonight" Jack replied. Gabriella knew how much he hated letting the physical education assistants run practice without him and hugged him again before returning to her seat for the start of competition.

"Hey why'd you get two hugs?" Troy asked his father.

Jack shrugged not answering as the competition started.

The Bolton's were well aware how smart Gabriella was but actually seeing her brain in action was still a humbling experience.

Troy and Chad cheered wildly when the East High team won. The other spectators looked on amused as they clapped politely. Taylor looked away embarrassed but Gabriella though blushing wildly came down to hug Troy.

The team talked about making plans to go out for pizza to celebrate the win but most of them were more interested in getting home to flake out after all the extra study Taylor had made them do over the last week and once Gabriella explained that she couldn't make it plans fell apart. Troy and Gabriella hung around with the team for a while before heading home to get ready to go out.

Like last time Gabriella tried on half a dozen outfits before deciding what to wear.

Troy sat on the bed and enjoyed the show as Gabriella was too stressed out to worry about changing in the bathroom instead of in front of him.

"Why don't you wear the dress you were going to wear last time?" he asked finally.

Gabriella shrugged and got it out "you think I should wear this one?" she asked uncertainly.

"Gabriella, I think you look fantastic in that dress" he said pointing to the one she was holding, "and this one you're wearing and the other clothes you tried on tonight too. I'm sorry I can't give you good advice on what you should wear. Do you want me to go and ask Mom?"

"I don't want to bother her. She's getting ready too" Gabriella protested half-heartedly.

"Gabriella I'm sure it's no bother and clothes just aren't worth stressing yourself out over like this. Alejandro isn't going to care what you're wearing" Troy said ineffectually trying to calm Gabriella down.

"You are such a guy" Gabriella said frustrated with her husband.

"That's kind of my point. Alejandro's a guy. He's going to see a gorgeous girl in a pretty dress no matter which dress you decide to wear" Troy argued.

Gabriella sighed and looked uncertainly at the outfits laid out on the bed.

Troy got up and left the room before he said the wrong thing again.

He knocked on his mom's door. "Mom Gabriella's stressing out over what to wear. Could you go and kina calm her down and help her decide?" Troy asked pleadingly.

Lucille chuckled at her son's helpless look. "I'll try" she said.

She knocked on the bedroom door and entered when she was invited.

"Oh Lucille, I thought it was Troy coming back" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Troy thought you might like some advice" Lucille offered hesitantly.

"I just can't make up my mind. And I've scared Troy away I'm acting like a complete ditz" Gabriella complained.

"You look lovely. I'd go with what you're wearing" Lucille encouraged.

"Is it suitable for the restaurant?" Gabriella asked.

"Yes sweetheart, exactly right not too dressy or too casual. Are you going to leave your hair down?"

"I don't know what do you think?"

"With that dress I would" Lucille said leaving the room to finish getting ready herself leaving behind a much more confident Gabriella.

Troy and Gabriella had decided to arrive early this time for their dinner with Alejandro in the hope of controlling the seating plan. The Bolton's arrived as a group and giving the names of their bookings asked to be seated in the same section of the restaurant, in the booths if possible.

Thus Jack and Lucille while out of sight of Alejandro were within hearing distance making Gabriella feel much more secure about the meeting.

Alejandro arrived punctually and smiled as he approached the table. His smile dropped as he saw Troy and Gabriella sitting in the booth with their arms around each other.

"Gabriella" he greeted her pleasantly "and ..."he hesitated as if he'd forgotten the boy's name.

"This is my husband Troy" Gabriella said trying to hide her irritation.

"And how have you been?" Alejandro asked smoothly.

"I've been fine, busy with school and things" Gabriella replied.

"Term has only just started has it not? Are your teachers piling on the work already?"

"Not really, but the scholastic decathlon meet was today so we've been busy preparing for that and the yearbook committee, prom committee and drama club met this week also."

"And you Troy, are you in all these clubs and activities also?"

"No I'm in the drama club, and on the basketball team. I don't have time for much else"

"What exactly is a scholastic decathlon meet?" he asked Gabriella.

"It's a team competition against other schools involving math and science and general knowledge questions" Gabriella explained.

"And how did you go today?" he asked interested.

"We won, but these are only the first round robin meets" Gabriella dismissed her achievement.

"Perhaps I could attend the next meet?" Alejandro suggested.

"How long are you planning to stay in Albuquerque?" Gabriella asked shocked.

"I must be in New York next week but I have purchased a house here so I will be visiting frequently. I would like you to live with me when I am here" he said eagerly.

"You want us to come and stay with you?" Gabriella asked surprised. "It sounds like you will be doing a lot of coming and going. We would be spending a lot of time alone or moving back and forth constantly which isn't very practical. And I'd like to get to know you better before I could choose to do that."

Alejandro looked torn for a moment then answered "I would like my daughter to live with me" he said quietly.

"We don't know you well enough to make that decision" Troy said bluntly.

Alejandro's lips tightened "I'm her father and she's a minor. She belongs with me"

"Gabriella is my wife as such I'm recognised as her legal guardian. As for moving in with you it's her decision to make. I'll move in with you if she wants me to" Troy said equitably.

"I'm afraid you've misunderstood" Alejandro said slowly.

Troy raised his eyebrows realising the issue but wanting Alejandro to say it out loud.

"I invited Gabriella to live with me." Alejandro repeated.

"And only Gabriella?" Troy pushed the issue.

"Is that true. You weren't inviting both of us to live with you?" Gabriella asked upset.

Alejandro didn't reply but his meaning was clear.

"Then I'm sorry Alejandro" Gabriella said calling him by his first name. "But Troy's right I don't know you anywhere near well enough to consider trusting being alone with you. And even if I did I wouldn't want to leave my husband"

"I am your father Gabriella not some acquaintance" Alejandro said angrily.

"You are a man that I haven't seen in almost ten years and really don't remember. I have no idea of your character or what sort of father you might be. Being a father doesn't automatically mean you have my best interests in mind. You say you want to get to know me but you're not really making much of an effort to do that." Gabriella began to get upset.

"What do you mean I'm not making much of an effort to get to know you? I asked you to come and live with me." Alejandro asked disbelievingly.

"You don't ask about my friends or about what I think on current world issues or about how I met Troy or any of those things. You want me to leave Troy and come and live with you so you can control me make me into who you want me to be instead of getting to know who I am. You reappear after nearly ten years and expect me to be your idea of a perfectly obedient daughter without caring at all who I have actually become."

Troy squeezed her hand in support as the waitress came over to take their orders.

"I'm sorry we're not ready to order" Troy told the waitress "Can you give us another five minutes?"

The waitress left and Troy shoved a menu at Alejandro before opening the other and sticking it under Gabriella's nose. "I think we should order before we say anything else" he suggested hoping it would give them both time to cool off.

A/N: Thank you to Neshrox, Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Siobhan and Wildcats2016 for your support


	125. Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: I have never been to America much less Albuquerque and Alejandro's opinions in no way reflect my own. I apologise if I offend anyone that was not my intention.

Gabriella got up to go to the bathroom looking clearly upset. Lucille seeing this also got up and went to meet her there.

"How are you coping?" she asked once they were out of sight of the dining room concerned about her daughter-in-law.

"He wanted me to leave Troy and come and live with him. If that's what it takes for him to accept me then we're wasting our time trying" Gabriella vented.

"You know you're very welcome staying with us" Lucille said calmly "Alejandro can't change that."

"Yes I know but he wants to control me" Gabriella said angrily. "I'm almost ready to walk out again."

Lucille laid her hand on Gabriella's arm. "Please don't do that Gabriella. Things will never get better between the two of you unless you manage to talk to each other. Perhaps he just wants to spend more time with you. Really get to know you" Lucille tried to calm Gabriella down. "He asked you to move in with him and you've said no. So leave it at that and try to move on and get to know him. Remember this is as much about getting to know Alejandro and deciding whether you want him to be a part of your life as it is trying to make a good impression so he wants to include you in his life. Go and try to enjoy your dinner."

Lucille gave Gabriella a hug before leaving the bathroom.

In the meantime Troy was reading the menu deliberately ignoring Alejandro.

"Why did you marry my daughter?" Alejandro asked curiously after sitting starring at the boy for several minutes.

"Because I love Gabriella and couldn't bear to see her so unhappy and giving up all her hopes and dreams for the future when I could do something about it" Troy stated firmly looking his father-in-law directly in the eye.

"You're eighteen years old. Far too young to consider getting married in today's society" Alejandro commented looking for a reaction. "I can't believe your parents went along with it."

Troy shrugged "Yes if Gabriella hadn't had that marriage contract hanging over her forcing the issue we probably wouldn't have married until we finish college" Troy agreed.

"So you got married because of the marriage contract. What makes you think marrying you would be better for Gabriella that marrying Eduardo?" Alejandro asked angrily.

"I love Gabriella and she loves me. She hated the thought of marrying anyone else" Troy said clearly.

"I had very good reasons for choosing Eduardo when I set up the contract. He would have cared for her" Alejandro stated firmly.

"But Gabriella didn't know him much less choose to marry him" Troy argued

"He could support her far better than you ever will" Alejandro attacked.

"But he wouldn't love her the way I do. And I'm not totally without prospects. Our scholarships will support us through college" Troy said as calmly as he could.

"So you will depend on a scholarship Gabriella herself earned to support my daughter. Eduardo was a multi millionaire" Alejandro stated.

"And a complete stranger" Troy said dismissively.

"Eduardo was her parents' choice that should have counted for something"

"In your country perhaps. Gabriella is an American. She grew up being taught to think for herself, believing that the choice of husband should be hers and hers alone. She had no idea why you would choose him and no reason to choose him herself."

"If Maria hadn't run off with her Eduardo wouldn't be a stranger and Gabriella would have known what was expected of her" Alejandro said frustrated.

"Maybe but that's irrelevant. You can't change the way Gabriella has been brought up or the person she has become. Gabriella is who she is and that is an independent thinking American woman. You need to accept that if you want any sort of relationship with your daughter." Troy told Alejandro severely.

Alejandro changed his angle of attack. "My daughter will one day inherit a great deal of money providing I don't change my will" he said watching Troy closely for a reaction.

"And you think that has something to do with me marrying Gabriella?" Troy said questioningly surprised at the implied accusation.

"Quite frankly. Yes I do" Alejandro replied.

"You're wrong I never even thought about you at all. My proposal was for two reasons, first for her sake to protect Gabriella and second for my sake because I could not bear to lose her." Troy said beginning to show his anger.

"I don't believe you" Alejandro said softly.

"Then change your will and leave it all to charity. Victims of marital abuse might be a good cause. Or counselling for the families of suicide victims, because that would have been what your precious marriage contract would have led to if I didn't step in and save Gabriella" Troy said furiously.

"Gabriella was being melodramatic" Alejandro dismissed.

"I will point out yet again that you do not know my wife as well as I do. Gabriella meant to kill herself on her wedding night. She had the plan worked out to explain to her friends and I that she was going to cut all communication and start married life with no previous ties so I wouldn't find out what she had done."

Alejandro paled "You lie!"

"No" Troy replied before ending the conversation by picking up the menu and reading out loud to himself the merits of various dishes but not really paying attention to what he was doing.

Gabriella noticed the tension as she arrived back at the table. Choosing to ignore it for now she asked Troy cheerfully, "What have you ordered me for dinner?"

"The waitress hasn't been by to take our orders yet. I was going to order you the scampi" Troy told her handing her the menu.

"Gabriella opened it and read the description "Good choice" she said nodding her agreement.

The waitress arrived and they ordered their meals Gabriella ordering the scampi Troy had chosen for her.

"Have you heard from your mother?" Alejandro asked as they waited for their meals.

"I spoke to her yesterday, she seems to have settled in well" Gabriella replied deliberately not saying the name of the town Maria had moved to.

Troy looked up surprised.

"Sorry I forgot to tell you. She rang while I was at Taylor's" Gabriella explained. "She sends you her love" Gabriella leaned over and kissed Troy's cheek as if passing on a kiss from Maria. "We didn't get long to talk she's been having difficulties getting reception and the land line won't be installed for another week or so" she said sighing.

"You must miss having a parent around" Alejandro said almost hopefully.

"We miss Mom of course but Jack and Lucille have been really great. They even rearranged their work schedules to be able to come to the scholastic decathlon competition this afternoon" Gabriella said enthusiastically letting Alejandro know that she wasn't suffering from the absence of a loving parental figure in her life.

"I would have come if I'd known about it" Alejandro said quietly.

Gabriella shrugged "The next meet is in two weeks on the 24th of January at 3 o'clock. It's at Highland High School. You're welcome if you'd like to come" Gabriella said not truly believing that he would turn up.

Alejandro pulled out his phone and entered the appointment. "I can't promise I'll be able to be there but I will make an effort to attend if possible" he said smoothly.

"Troy has a game next Friday at 3 o'clock at Los Puentes High" Gabriella said pushing the issue.

Alejandro gave her a frustrated look "I'm not much interested in Baseball"

"Basketball" Troy corrected wondering whether the older man had said the wrong sport on purpose.

"I'll be in London. I fly over Friday morning and will return Tuesday evening. You could come with me if you would like" Alejandro offered his daughter.

"No thanks. I have school" Gabriella declined immediately.

"It would be equally educational to spend the weekend in London. I have some down time on the Sunday so maybe we could take a day tour. I'll have my secretary courier over some brochures for you"

"You'd be wasting her time. I'm not going with you" Gabriella replied trying to keep her temper. "I have plans for the weekend and I'm not going to give up my life her to follow you around the globe no matter how interesting or educational you promise it will be. If you want to get to know me the best way is to spend time with me and my friends. Attend school activities like every other parent."

Luckily their meals arrived at that point because Gabriella was ready to walk out again. Troy squeezed her hand in support and encouraged her to eat. Troy and Gabriella shared tastes of each other's meals for the moment focussing on each other. As Gabriella calmed down Troy began to try to include Alejandro in general conversation asking what sports teams he supported and his impressions of Albuquerque now he'd been there for long enough to have some.

"To be honest I prefer New York, Chicago or Washington DC. Albuquerque is a little small and laid back for me. Moving my business headquarters here is not a realistic option most of my department heads would be very unhappy to have themselves and their family relocated to New Mexico."

"So does that mean you won't be staying?" Gabriella asked.

"I will be based here for the next six months though a certain amount of travel is unavoidable" Alejandro refuted "I want to be here for you if you need me"

Gabriella's immediate reaction was to say 'I don't'. Thankfully though she'd just accepted a mouthful of Troy's steak and had time to think while she chewed. The rest of the meal passed relatively peacefully though nothing important was discussed.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Neshrox, Siobhan, Kiara and EazyWave11 for your support.


	126. Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"I would like to meet the people you are living with" Alejandro said as they finished their desserts.

"I'm sure Mom and Dad would be pleased to meet you" Troy replied blandly concealing his true belief that his mother would appreciate the opportunity to give Alejandro a severe scolding for the treatment of his daughter.

"Why do you want to meet them?" Gabriella asked suspiciously.

"Is it so wrong to want to know and approve of the people my daughter lives with?" Alejandro asked mildly trying to diffuse Gabriella's anger.

"It is if you think you have a say in who I live with" Gabriella retorted. "Jack and Lucille don't need your approval. It's Troy's and my choice where we live. And if I needed more advice or approval than that Mom's very happy that I'm staying with the Boltons"

"I would still like to meet them Gabriella. You and Troy say that you don't want to live with me because I'm a stranger. Well the Boltons are strangers to me and I don't feel comfortable letting my daughter live with strangers. As your father and the only parent you have who's currently in the United States of America I am legally responsible for making sure you are safe."

"You're wrong about that Sir. Gabriella is my wife. I am legally responsible for making sure she is being well looked after and all her needs are met. I assure you that Gabriella is both safe and welcome in my parent's home and that is where she wants to live." Troy spoke up before Gabriella could explode in fury.

"All the same I would like to meet the adults Gabriella lives with especially since they are so important to her. Could you please arrange it?" Alejandro said firmly.

"Sure" said Troy wondering how he was going to ring his parents without Alejandro realising they were sitting at the neighbouring table. As he dialled the house number to leave a message he saw his father get up and walk out of the dining room. He dialled his father's number.

"Jack Bolton"

"Hi Dad it's me. Alejandro wants to meet you and Mom" Troy said for the sake of his audience.

"Sure does he want to come over tonight or would he like to come for Sunday lunch?" Jack replied calmly.

"You better check with Mom before you start inviting people for lunch" Troy teased knowing his mother liked to plan for guests, especially guests she would want to impress.

"Luce'd prefer lunch on Sunday. It was her suggestion" Jack replied.

"Would you like to come for lunch on Sunday?" Troy asked Alejandro politely.

"That would be acceptable. Thank your parents for the invitation" Alejandro accepted.

"Does this Sunday suit you?" Troy asked.

Alejandro checked is schedule and nodded "Yes shall we say 12.30?"

"12.30 okay with you and Mom?" Troy checked.

"Yes that's fine" Jack said.

"See ya Dad" Troy said.

"Goodnight Troy" Jack replied ending the call and walking back into the dining room.

Gabriella however had one more thing to say to Alejandro about meeting Jack and Lucille. "If you're going to come to lunch then you need to be polite and not too judgemental. These are people I care about and I won't have them hurt by you. I'm not going to change my mind about living with Troy and his parents. If that's what you're trying to achieve then you are wasting your time and ours."

She got up and led Troy out of the restaurant without saying a proper goodbye leaving Alejandro with the cheque seeing that dinner had been his idea.

"I don't care if your truck breaks down in the middle of nowhere Troy. Take me somewhere that I can scream" she asked as they got into the truck.

"Gabriella, are you serious? We'd have to go much further than the park for that. If the truck won't start I'd have to call Dad to come and get us" Troy warned.

"I want to scream and kick and throw things" Gabriella insisted.

Troy thought for a moment. "Generally when I feel like that I hit the court and throw around a basketball" he offered "we could try that."

"I feel like punching something" Gabriella said with her hands balled into tense fists.

Troy looked at her worried "What do you want to punch? I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Why did you pick this Sunday? I'm not ready for this" Gabriella said crossly.

"You'll never be ready for this. Putting it off will just give you more time to stress out about it. I thought it was better to get it over and done with before he goes away so he doesn't have a reason to hurry back to Albuquerque" Troy explained.

"He is such an ass. I can't believe I'm related to him" Gabriella said angrily.

"Unfortunately I can see the facial resemblance" Troy pointed out. "Whether you like it or not he is your biological father. But that doesn't mean he has to be more than that unless you want him to be."

"I can't believe my mother married him" Gabriella exclaimed.

"You'll have to ask Maria about that but maybe he was different then. Less traditional, less in need of being in control." Troy said trying to be fair. "I can't imagine Maria letting him dictate to her the way he's trying to do to you, but that might be why she left him."

Gabriella snorted with laughter "I guess we may never know what she saw in him" Gabriella agreed.

Troy parked at the park where they'd spent Monday afternoon.

"This isn't far enough out of town to scream" Gabriella said looking around.

"It could be if you muffle the scream into my jacket" Troy said pulling her into his arms with her head pressed gently into his shoulder.

After a moment Gabriella looked up "I guess I don't really need to scream" she said bashfully. "It seems silly to actually do it."

"Do you still feel the need to punch something?" Troy asked doing an admirable job of hiding his amusement.

Gabriella looked around "No you're right I'd only hurt my hands trying" she said eventually.

"Let's go for a walk, maybe some fresh air will make you feel better" Troy suggested.

"You don't want to stay here and make out?" Gabriella asked surprised and a little hurt.

"You think I would be thinking about sex when you were so upset?" Troy asked also hurt.

"I.. I'm sorry I just thought... I mean... we get so few opportunities to be truly alone..." Gabriella stammered realising that her assumption had hurt Troy.

"Gabriella you know that isn't all I care about" Troy protested.

"Yeah but I thought maybe you thought that distracting me might help" Gabriella admitted shyly.

"You might be right about that Gabriella. I'm happy to provide as many distractions as you want if that's what you are asking for. But I didn't think that's what you wanted tonight" Troy said quietly.

"I don't know what I want" Gabriella said frustrated.

"Let's go for that walk and clear your head out a bit" Troy said getting out of the truck and jumping through the tray to open Gabriella's door.

Instead of taking Troy's hand Gabriella wrapped her arm around his waist pulling him close.

They headed across the playing ground to the baseball fields behind silently.

"Troy what do you think I should do about Alejandro?" Gabriella asked uncertainly. Before they went to dinner Troy had been strongly in favour of giving Alejandro a chance and getting to know him before she made a permanent decision.

"I said in the beginning that you should get to know him while you had the chance. I was worried that you'd regret it later if you didn't. Do you feel that you know him well enough?"

Gabriella thought "It's hard to get to know him because he's so busy trying to change the way I think. He makes me so mad I can't think straight."

Troy nodded in agreement "But do you actually know him. What else do you want to know about him?"

"I want to ask about why he married my mother. All the rest of the family marriages were arranged why wasn't his or did he refuse like I did? I want to know why he thought he should arrange a marriage for me. Did he regret marrying Mom instead of someone his parents chose for him?"

"Make a list of questions and Mom and Dad and I will try to help you get the answers on Sunday and then you can decide what you want to do after that" Troy suggested.

"That's a good idea, I always end up distracted and Alejandro leads the conversation and we end up fighting."

"You may end up fighting anyway, just because you've managed to have the questions asked doesn't mean he'll answer. And you may not like his answers either." Troy warned.

"Yeah but at least if that happens I'll know I'm wasting my time trying to get the answers and can move on" Gabriella replied thoughtfully.

"Do you want to go home and get started on your list of questions?" Troy asked.

Gabriella wrapped both arms around Troy kissing him passionately. "I think I need a little distraction before I can think about it clearly" she murmured pulling his face down for another kiss.

Troy enjoyed her kisses running his hands down her back to grab her ass and pull her tightly against him. One of his hands ended up under her dress and he massaged her but cheek, moving his other hand to do the same.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Neshrox, Kiara and Siobhan for your support.


	127. Chapter 127

Chapter 127

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella raised herself up on her toes letting Troy take her weight and holding his shoulders wrapped first one leg and then the other around Troy's waist.

Troy widened his stance to remain upright on the uneven ground walking over into the deeper darkness under the huge trees that separated the playing fields from the public barbeque and picnic area. He noted that the ground under the tree was soft underfoot and probably too muddy to sit in their good clothes and that the bark of the tree was rough and Gabriella would be badly scratched if he pressed her up against it.

Changing direction he headed back to his truck.

"You don't want to stay under the tree I thought being outside would be a turn on for you?" Gabriella asked.

Troy grinned at the thought "Yeah maybe if we had a blanket or something. The ground's too muddy it'd wreck your dress and I don't want to hurt you pushing you up against a tree" he explained. "I wouldn't mind trying it one day if you're sure you wanted to."

Troy wasn't even breathing heavily by the time he reached his truck. He'd just carried Gabriella about a quarter of a mile uphill. "You really are disgustingly fit" Gabriella teased. She loved how easily he could carry her around.

Troy put Gabriella down to unlock the passenger door and she surprised him by digging through his pockets and pulling out the condom she know he had put there as he got dressed. She put it on the dash before leaning down and taking off her panties and unzipping his jeans and pulling them and his boxers down to mid thigh before getting into the truck."

"Gabriella" Troy exclaimed in shock.

"Get in the truck Troy" she said smirking.

Troy hurried to obey hindered by the pants now around his knees.

Gabriella almost laughed at the sight of Troy hopping around with his pants half mast trying to climb up into the truck. As soon as he was seated she straddled his hips kissing him passionately.

Troy undid the halter clasp at the back of Gabriella's neck and drew down the front exposing her lace bra. He couldn't really see it in the dim light but it felt just fine.

He reached around behind her back but hesitated before undoing it. "May I?" he asked hopefully.

Gabriella really wasn't comfortable being undressed like this even though it was dark and the park was deserted. She was about to give Troy permission anyway when he realised how she was feeling and moved his hands back to cup her breasts lowering his head to suck and bite gently through her bra.

Gabriella arched her back and ground against Troy's erection. Troy grunted and thrust against her involuntarily. "Stop please" he begged grasping Gabriella's hips and lifting her away from him.

"You don't want to make love"

"Oh God I do" Troy moaned. "But if we don't slow down it'll be over before we begin."

Gabriella smiled and reached for the condom on the dashboard. Ripping it open with her teeth she efficiently rolled the condom into place and moved to position it at her entrance. She slowly lowered herself until she could go no further and started moving back up equally slowly until just the head of Troy's erection breached her entrance. She did this several times until Troy growled and took control holding her hips and thrusting upwards as he pulled her almost violently down holding her tightly as he thrust one more and came with a shout. Gabriella was close but not quite there yet and cursed internally as she felt Troy soften inside her moving off him so she could take care of the condom.

"I'm sorry Gabriella" Troy said as he realised she hadn't come.

"Don't worry about it Troy. I've left you in this condition far too many times. And I did enjoy it."

"I don't have another condom with me" he said apologetically but I'm happy to use my fingers or my mouth if you'd like" he said rubbing his index finger across her clitoris.

"Just keep doing that" Gabriella said squirming slightly.

Troy thrust two fingers inside her while continuing to stimulate her clitoris with his thumb. Gabriella rocked against his fingers orgasming after a few thrusts. Troy withdrew his fingers and licked them clean.

"Do you really like the taste that much?" Gabriella asked amused.

"Well it beats wiping it on our clothes" Troy prevaricated.

Gabriella continued to just look at him. "I love doing that to you and the taste reminds me of it, but no I only love it because it tastes like you" he admitted.

"We should be getting home your parents will be starting to worry" Gabriella reminded him.

"It's Friday night they won't expect us this early" Troy replied. "And they may have decided to have an early night seeing we're not there."

Gabriella ignored the innuendo. "They could be waiting for us tonight Troy after the stress of dinner they might want to see that we're okay" she said fixing her dress and putting on her knickers.

"We could call in and see them and then go out somewhere, maybe catch up with Chad and Taylor or someone" Troy suggested pulling up his pants and tucking in his shirt.

"We could call in and I could get changed and we could come back here" Gabriella countered finger-combing her hair.

"You want to do that?" Troy asked surprised.

"Don't you?" she asked.

"Well yeah of course but I thought you'd be too embarrassed to go home and talk to Mom and Dad before leaving to have sex" Troy said honestly.

Gabriella blushed "Don't say it like that" she exclaimed.

"It would be like that" Troy said bluntly. If Gabriella was going to get too embarrassed and change her mind he wanted her to change it before they got home. "Do you really think you could do it? We could go to a movie instead" Troy offered.

Gabriella shrugged and pulled out her phone to check what was showing. "There's nothing on tonight that I really want to see" she said smiling at him "How about you" she showed him the listing.

"I wouldn't mind seeing that one" he said pointing it out. "But I'll probably arrange to go with the guys. It's not your sort of movie"

Gabriella agreed. "It will do you good to have a boy's night" she said.

"Yeah maybe next weekend" Troy said noncommittally not wanting to leave Gabriella until things were more settled with Alejandro.

They arrived home to find Jack and Lucille sitting on the couch together watching reruns of 'friends'.

"Hi Mama, Hi Dad" Troy said as they entered.

"Hi Jack, Lucille" Gabriella echoed. "Thanks for tonight"

"Don't mention it Gabriella. We are happy to help" Jack said sincerely.

"Are you sure you don't mind having Alejandro over for lunch on Sunday?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm almost looking forward to it" Lucille said with a wicked grin. "But if you're hoping for a peaceful lunch I wouldn't hold your breath. I have some things I want to say to Alejandro Montez"

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that. I have some questions I want answers to but he aggravates me so much that I never get a chance to ask them. Troy suggested that if I make up a list and we all read it through then maybe the two of you could help me try to get some of them answered?"

"That sounds like a good idea. How about we all think about it overnight and we'll all sit down tomorrow morning and make a list. Jack and I have some questions we want answered as well" Lucille suggested.

"Yeah okay. Thank you" Gabriella said smiling.

"Are you going to get changed Gabriella?"Troy reminded her.

"Yes I'll be back in a minute" she replied before hurrying upstairs.

"Are you two off somewhere?" Jack asked.

"I thought we might go and get some ice-cream now Gabriella's stomach has settled, and maybe see a movie or hang out with the guys" Troy said pulling out his phone and texting Chad.

Gabriella quickly pulled on jeans and a blouse and jacket before collecting several condoms from the bedside drawer.

Troy smiled as she came downstairs "you ready to go?" he asked.

"Sure, goodnight Lucille Goodnight Jack"

"Night Mom, night Dad don't wait up for us." Troy said grabbing their coats as he walked out the door.

"Chad and Taylor are busy tonight so do you want to do get some ice-cream?" Troy asked as he started his truck.

"I'm not hungry but I'm happy to come along if you want some" Gabriella replied.

"Nah I'll raid the cupboard when I get home if I'm still hungry" Troy said grinning.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked directly.

"Back to the park I think" Gabriella said.

"We still don't have a rug or groundsheet" Troy reminded her as he started to drive to the park.

"I know I couldn't figure out how to get one without your parents noticing" Gabriella replied.

"And you're wearing jeans so you will have to take them off even if we end up just fooling around" Troy warned her.

"Can you think of anywhere more private?" Gabriella asked.

"Not anywhere I'd be comfortable going until I get new spark plugs" Troy replied almost impatient with his beloved truck.

Gabriella giggled "Do you think we could buy spark plugs tomorrow?" she asked.

Troy smirked "Well I guess I could" he said pretending to think it over as if he hadn't already been planning to.

"In the meantime I guess the park will have to do" Gabriella murmured kissing him.

Troy grinned and parked the car in the farthest parking spot from the street. He slid across away from the steering wheel.

Instead of straddling him Gabriella sunk to her knees in the foot space. She reached up and unbuttoned Troy's jeans pulling them downwards. She leaned forwards and grasped Troy's manhood pumping it slightly till it hardened then took the tip into her mouth swirling her tongue around the ridge and swallowing it down as far as she could without gagging.

"Oh God Gabriella" Troy moaned. He really loved it when Gabriella did this but was a little disappointed this time. He wanted to make it up to her for not bringing her to orgasm when they'd had sex earlier. Also a part of him was feeling insecure and wanted to prove to himself that it wouldn't happen again.

Gabriella enjoyed hearing Troy's reactions, the hitch of his breathing as she hummed around him, the moans as he got close to orgasm and finally him babbling trying to warn her he was about to come followed immediately by his shouting her name as he reached completion.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Siobhan, Neshrox, Kiara and KaylaDee for your support.


	128. Chapter 128

Chapter 128

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella looked up with a smug expression on her face. "You liked that" she demanded.

"Yeah!" Troy confirmed pulling her back up to sit on his lap. He pulled her to him and kissed her languidly.

"You're sleepy. Perhaps we should go home" Gabriella suggested.

"Gabriella" Troy protested ineffectually.

"You're falling asleep"

"No I'm not" Troy argued struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Troy you can't go to sleep here I can't drive your truck" Gabriella shook him.

"Okay let's get out and walk for a minute. I need to wake up a bit before I can drive safely"

Troy helped Gabriella out of the truck and they pulled on their coats and walked across the playground. "Do you want to try to go to Kade's party tomorrow night?" Troy asked idly.

"Do I know Kade? Will I know anyone there?" Gabriella asked sceptically.

"Most of East High will be there if his last party was any indication" Troy replied without any great enthusiasm "Kade's on the swim and golf teams. He's a bit of a jerk but he throws great parties."

"You mean great as in way too many people crowded into the house, lots of alcohol and no parental supervision?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah" Troy said sheepishly. "Chad, Zeke and Jason were talking about going."

"If his parties are so great why haven't you taken me before?" Gabriella asked suspiciously.

"You were away with your Mom last time, besides Maria would have killed me if you came home drunk" Troy explained.

"It doesn't sound like my sort of thing. I'd rather just have a quiet night if you don't mind" Gabriella said quietly.

Troy smiled "Okay" he said.

"You can go with your friends if you like" Gabriella offered.

"No way" Troy said looking panicked.

"You said it would be a great party and now you don't want to go?" Gabriella queried.

"Not by myself. I just thought it might be fun to stop you worrying about Sunday" Troy explained.

"And the boys wanted you to go" Gabriella added dryly.

"I told them I'd ask but that I didn't think you would want to" Troy said. "They were okay with that."

"Let's head back home. I'm getting cold" Gabriella said shivering slightly.

Troy wrapped his arms around her and they returned to the truck and drove home.

Saturday 11th January.

Gabriella slept in the next morning while Troy and Jack went running. Troy showered and had breakfast with his parents. "Gabriella's late this morning is she okay?" Lucille asked.

Troy shrugged "She was okay last night while we were out but when we got home she started to write down her list of questions for Alejandro and got herself worked up again. She got up twice in the night to add a question. She's finally asleep so I don't want to wake her" he said quietly.

"I'll put off cleaning upstairs until she's up" Lucille promised.

"I have to go to the auto store do you want me to get anything while I'm out?" Troy asked gratefully.

"No thanks Troy I need to do the grocery shopping today anyway" Lucille said smiling at his thoughtfulness.

"Can you pick up some fuel for the lawn mower?" Jack replied handing him the money.

"Sure thing. Can you tell Gabriella where I am if she wakes up before I get back?" Troy said.

"Take my car Troy" Jack said throwing him the keys.

Troy looked at him enquiringly.

"Your truck is getting unreliable again. You were lucky you didn't break down last night. I'll help you fix it this afternoon."

"After you finish up the list of jobs I gave you a week ago" Lucille said firmly.

Jack looked at his wife apologetically "of course" he agreed.

Gabriella stumbled into the kitchen about three quarters of an hour later still half asleep to find Lucille cleaning the oven. "Morning" she said yawning.

"Good morning Gabriella. Are you feeling a little better?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah thanks, where's Troy?" she asked putting bread in the toaster and helping herself to some juice.

"He's gone down the Auto store. He should be back any minute" Lucille replied.

Gabriella looked out the window to see Jack pruning the roses. "Sorry I slept in" she said "What would you like me to clean?" she said buttering her toast.

"Well you can start with your room if you will, and put your laundry on to wash" Lucille replied.

"Sure I'll just finish eating" Gabriella said agreeably.

"There's no hurry we've got a whole day" Lucille replied.

"I feel guilty making so much extra work for you. You know you don't need to do all this for Alejandro to come for lunch" Gabriella assured her mother-in-law.

"Don't you dare say that to Jack. This is the best opportunity I'll get to have the entire list of minor repair jobs actually completed" Lucille said smirking.

"Well I'm glad at least one positive thing will come out of it" Gabriella laughed at her mother-in-law's opportunistic manipulation of her husband.

Troy arrived home and was quickly put to work mowing the lawn while Gabriella took care of their laundry and cleaned their bedroom and bathroom and Lucille cleaned downstairs.

After lunch Lucille brought out her list of questions she wanted answers to from Alejandro and asked Gabriella and Troy to get there's so they could talk them over and decide who should try to ask what questions.

Lucille read her list out first.

"_Gabriella comes home from every meeting with you upset. Are you doing that deliberately? _

_And what are you going to do to change that?_

_2. Why'd you move to Albuquerque?_

_3. How long are you staying?_

_4. Are you trying to take Gabriella away from us even though she's happy here? _

_5. Can you truly run your business from Albuquerque without it suffering?"_

Gabriella nodded "Those are all good questions" she said.

"Yes though most of them would be better asked by Lucille or myself" Jack agreed. "What's on your list Gabriella."

Knowing she would struggle to read it out loud without getting upset she handed it to Jack who read it out for the others.

"_Why did you arrange a marriage for me?_

_Why didn't you have an arranged marriage? _

_Didn't you parents arrange one? If not why not?_

_Or did you refuse to go through the marriage your parents arranged?_

_Why did you just expect me to go along with whatever you want?_

_What happened between you and Mom to make her leave and go into hiding like she did?_

_Why are you so insistent on separating Troy and I?_

_Why are you so angry about me not marrying Eduardo?_

_Why do you want to __get to know__ spend time with me now?_

_Why didn't you try to contact us before this? If you could find us now you must have known where we were before this._

_Why'd you let Mom take me away?_

_Why don't you like __me__ Troy?_

_Do you care at all about __me__ what I want for my life?"_

"Also some very good questions" Lucille said nodding.

Jack looked sadly at the questions Gabriella had crossed out at the end. She was trying very hard to present a mature front in all her meetings with Alejandro but is rejection of her marriage and her choices and decisions was clearly hurting his new daughter quite a lot.

Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella in support.

"Do you have anything to add Troy?" Lucille asked.

Troy nodded, most of them are the same as yours and Gabriella's though" he said handing his mother the list.

Lucille read out Troy's list

_Why does it seem you're still trying to set up Gabriella with Eduardo?_

_Why do you keep saying you want to get to know Gabriella when you don't accept who she is and keep trying to change her?_

_Why are you trying to take Gabriella away from me?_

_Why do you keep upsetting Gabriella every time we see you? _

_Don't you want to get along?_

_Doesn't it matter to you that you're hurting Gabriella?_

_Gabriella's happy, why aren't you happy about that?_

"Yes I think that about covers it. Can anyone think of anything else we need to know about Alejandro Montez?" Lucille asked.

"I'd like to know what he and his company actually do" Jack commented.

"Yeah but asking that might be a mistake. He's already accused me of marrying Gabriella for his money" Troy said seriously.

Gabriella looked upset at that not having heard about what had happened while she was in the bathroom with Lucille until now.

"I'm afraid Troy's right. We don't want to do or say anything that makes him mistrust us more than he already does" Lucille said thoughtfully.

"Asking him all these questions will probably upset him" Gabriella pointed out.

"So what?" Troy asked. "He keeps upsetting you. And you need these answers. This dinner isn't about us trying to impress him or letting him investigate Mom and Dad. It's about trying to establish a relationship with your father, or deciding whether it's worth the effort to keep trying to."

"I agree. We don't want to increase his suspicions about Troy but getting you the answers you need to move forward is far more important than one peaceful dinner" Lucille said. "That decided what should I cook?"

"Something you can mostly prepare in advance and serve quickly. I think we're going to need you here in the dining room" Jack said thoughtfully.

"Something I could bring to the table for people to serve themselves, and panna cotta for desert. I could set it in the individual bowls and then any of us could just collect them from the fridge" Lucille planned starting to make a shopping list.

Jack got up and stuck the three lists on the front of the fridge "we'll read them through a couple of times before lunch tomorrow" he promised.

A/N: Thankyou to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, Kiara and Siobhan for your support.


	129. Chapter 129

Chapter 129

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning the already presentable house and tidying the garden. Lucille true to her word had Gabriella help her with the meal preparation. Making as much as possible in advance for the lunch as well as a casserole to freeze for later in the week in case she didn't have the time and energy to do it Sunday afternoon.

Jack and Troy did find the time to install the new spark plugs in Troy's truck and for Jack to look over some of the other work Troy had done on it. "I'm impressed Troy. It all looks good" Jack told his son.

"Yeah well hopefully this will have it running reliably for a while" he said closing the bonnet and starting to clean up. "Thanks for your help Dad."

"No problem Troy, now let's get cleaned up a bit before your mother realises we've been fixing the truck instead of cleaning up the yard" Jack said smiling conspiratorially at his son.

By the end of the day Jack's list of jobs were all completed and the downstairs level of the house was spotlessly clean and Lucille's grandmother's chicken famous chicken dish was in the oven. It was one of those recipes that actually tasted better when left to sit for a night and reheated.

They had a simple meal of steak and salad before Troy and Gabriella met their friends down the bowling alley for a game.

Troy and Gabriella were the last to arrive and after vigorous debate the others had decided to split the teams by drawing names out of Ryan's hat and Troy and Gabriella found themselves paired up with Jason and Martha playing against Chad, Taylor, Ryan and Kelsi. Zeke was away with his family and Sharpay had refused to come bowling in case it broke a nail (which may or may not have had something to do with the argument she had with Kelsi that afternoon).

"Congratulations on winning Decathlon yesterday" Kelsi said to the other three girls as they went to get shoes.

"Thanks Kels" Gabriella replied grinning.

"Thanks Kelsi, pity you couldn't have come" Martha said.

"It's such a relief to have that behind us. The next couple of meets should be easier" Taylor said smiling.

"How'd dinner with your father go?" Martha asked knowing Gabriella had been more stressed about that than the decathlon.

"Well we had dinner, though I definitely couldn't say it went well. He seems determined for me to move in with him still" she said groaning.

"You're not even going to consider it?" Kelsi asked.

"Of course not. I wouldn't want to leave the Boltons even if Troy came with me but Alejandro made it clear Troy wasn't included. I'm afraid that if I moved in with him Alejandro would try to stop me from seeing Troy at all" Gabriella said frustrated.

"What's he got against Troy?" Martha asked.

"I don't know. He accused Troy of marrying me for my eventual inheritance. I think he still wants me to leave Troy and marry Eduardo" Gabriella replied.

"If anyone was marrying you for the money it would be this Eduardo character not Troy" Kelsi said angry that anyone could think that about her honorary big brother.

"Yeah it's ridiculous I know Troy didn't know anything about Alejandro before he turned up after we were married" Gabriella agreed.

"Are you going to see him again?" Taylor asked.

"He's coming for lunch tomorrow. He said he wants to meet the Boltons" Gabriella said tiredly.

"But didn't they go for dinner with you last night?" Taylor said confused.

"They were at the restaurant in case we needed them but Alejandro doesn't know that" Gabriella replied.

"Have you decided if you want him to be part of your life?" Taylor asked her friend quietly.

"No every time we see him he makes me so angry I forget to ask the questions I planned to ask. But we made a list and Troy and the Boltons are going to try to make sure he answers at least some of them tomorrow" Gabriella explained the plan to her friends.

Taylor, Kelsi and Martha chuckled knowing how insistent Coach Bolton could be and the reputation he had for obtaining the truth from his students. "Your father won't know what hit him" Martha said smirking.

"Let's go drag the boys out of the games arcade" Gabriella suggested ending the discussion.

The game was fun with both teams cheering loudly for their players and groaning when the other team did well. Nothing serious was discussed but Gabriella felt the support of her friends.

"Hey maybe we should come for lunch tomorrow too" Chad said as they packed up.

"Chad you cannot just invite yourself like that" his girlfriend scolded elbowing him in the ribs.

"Why not? Mrs B always says I'm welcome any time" Chad argued.

"I don't think you coming tomorrow is a good idea Chad" Gabriella said gently.

"I think it's a great idea if he wants to get to know you what better way than meeting your friends?" Chad asked seriously.

"Chad dinner will be hard enough without you there" Gabriella said looking hopelessly at Troy.

"You're not invited Chad" Troy said bluntly. "Alejandro wants to meet Mom and Dad because he wants Gabriella to go and live with him and he's hoping to talk Mom and Dad into agreeing with him."

Everyone looked shocked at Troy's words.

"Are you worried?" Kelsi asked after a full minute of total silence.

"Not about Mom and Dad, they love Gabriella like their own daughter, but of Alejandro finding a way to force the issue? Yeah I'm a bit worried." Troy replied quietly.

"You know I would never leave you" Gabriella said shocked that he was worried about this. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

"I know you wouldn't want to. And I know he can't legally have our marriage annulled but I'm still worried if he ever got you alone he'd take you away where I couldn't find you." Troy replied burying his head in her hair.

Seeing how worried Troy and Gabriella were about the lunch the following day Chad backed off regretting having made a fuss. "Sorry Dude. We're there for you both when you need us" he said clapping Troy on the shoulder.

"Thanks Bro" Troy answered preparing to leave.

Taylor dragged Chad out lecturing him as they went. Troy winced glad he wasn't the one on the receiving end of what sounded like a severe telling off.

By mutual decision Troy and Gabriella chose to head straight back to the house wanting to feel the security of being home.

Sunday 12th January

Troy woke early and headed out to run without waking his father. He felt like pushing himself as hard as he could and ran until he could go no further before stretching and catching his breath for the long jog home.

Jack was disappointed when Troy didn't respond to his quiet knock but unwilling to invade his privacy settled for running alone. He arrived home and was sitting outside drinking his coffee when Troy arrived soaked with sweat looking like he'd run a marathon.

"Did you sleep at all?" Jack asked as Troy collapsed into the chair beside him.

"Yeah I slept fine I just woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep"

"So you decided to run yourself into the ground" Jack said sarcastically.

"Maybe I pushed myself a little hard" Troy agreed.

"You better stretch and cool down properly before you stiffen up" Jack said mildly finishing his coffee.

Troy groaned but got up to stretch.

Gabriella was sitting huddled up in bed when Troy came in after his shower. He immediately dropped his towel and hurried across to climb in beside her and wrap his arms around her.

"What's wrong Gabriella?" he asked

"I don't want him here" she answered in a small voice.

Troy didn't have to ask who she meant. "It's okay it's just dinner, no different to on Friday. We'll get through it. Mom and Dad will be there to support us"

"But this is our home and I don't want him here" Gabriella said sounding like a small child.

"We can't stop him from coming now" Troy tried to reason.

Gabriella sighed "I know but I don't want him here. I'm afraid he's going to ruin everything."

"He can't ruin everything Gabriella. I'm your husband and this is our home. Mom and Dad love you. Alejandro can say whatever he likes but nothing will change that" Troy said kissing her lightly. "Come on you can't stay up here hiding all day" he added taking her hands and pulling her from the bed.

Gabriella grumbled and collected her clothes before heading to the shower. Troy watched her go with a smile before heading down to start cooking pancakes for breakfast to cheer her up.

"I hope you promise to clean that all up" Lucille said sternly.

"Yes Mama" Troy said meekly. "Gabriella's upset this morning and I know she will be too stressed with Alejandro here to eat lunch so I'm hoping these will help" he explained.

Lucille smiled at her son's thoughtfulness "Are you going to take them up to her in bed?" she asked.

"No she's in the shower. She'll be down in a minute" he replied.

Sure enough Gabriella arrived in the kitchen just as Troy put the first batch of pancakes on the plate. He handed them to his wife with a gentle smile.

"Oh Troy, I don't think I'm hungry" she protested guiltily.

"Just try to eat a little Gabriella. You'll feel better if you eat something" he encouraged.

Gabriella sat and tried to eat just to please Troy. She was surprised to find he was right the first few mouthfuls of pancake made with Troy's love did settle her stomach and she was able to finish her plate.

After breakfast she spent time helping Lucille with the lunch preparations while Troy set the table and they all read over the questions Gabriella wanted Alejandro to answer.

A/N: thank you to Pumpkinking5, Neshrox, Wildcats2016, Kiara, Siobhan, Xx02Ezria14xX and anikahaley for your support.


	130. Chapter 130

Chapter 130

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Alejandro arrived precisely on time and looking at the front yard with a neutral eye walked up the path and knocked on the door. The Bolton's home was well maintained and an average size in a quiet middle class neighbourhood. Other than the half a basketball court in the yard he could see nothing to criticize.

Jack answered the door. "Hello you must be Alejandro Montez" he said, "Please come in"

"Mr Bolton?"

Jack nodded. "Jack" he confirmed as politeness dictated.

"Thank you for your kind invitation"

"I can understand you wanting to meet the people your daughter is living with" Jack said noncommittally.

"Come through would you like a drink?"

"Red wine if you have it"

"Would you prefer a Cab Sav or Merlot?"

"The Merlot please"

"Coming right up" Jack went into the kitchen and poured Alejandro a glass of Merlot and himself a glass of dark grape juice which was a similar colour. Jack wasn't a fan of drinking before lunch and wanted to be fully armed for the upcoming battle of wits.

Running his eyes over the list of questions again he took a deep breath and re-entered the living room.

"Where's Gabriella?" Alejandro asked.

"She just ran upstairs to get changed, she's been helping Lucille in the kitchen most of the morning." Jack said. In fact according to their plan Gabriella was sitting on the stairs just out of Alejandro's sight listening to their conversation.

"How are you enjoying living in Albuquerque?" Jack asked.

Alejandro frowned slightly "I must admit I prefer living in New York, though the weather here is much more pleasant."

"I agree I would hate to have to deal with all that snow every time I left the house" Jack commented.

"Albuquerque must seem almost small town in comparison."

"The city's big enough it's more the attitude of the place. It all seems a little slow moving."

"Why'd you move your business to Albuquerque? It seems an odd move to make, particularly if you like the fast pace life of New York" Jack asked.

"I moved here to spend time with you Gabriella. To get to know my daughter again. I hoped we could become a family again"

Can you actually run your business from Albuquerque without it suffering?" Jack asked curiously.

Alejandro gave him a sharp look, he hadn't expected the Basketball coach to be that astute.

"In the long term probably not without a lot of travel" he admitted. "But for the next six months until Gabriella graduates I can be here at least every second week without serious consequences."

"So are looking forward to moving back to New York in June?" Jack surmised.

Alejandro gave a firm nod, not wanting to affirm this out loud where Gabriella might hear him but not able to deny it.

"I must admit I was a little concerned about the wisdom of having you come to lunch in our home, Gabriella always comes home so upset from her meetings with you" Jack said in a tone that demanded an explanation from his guest.

"I didn't intend to upset Gabriella. I was not aware how much I was hurting her. She seemed more angry than upset. And I was angry at her rudeness. In my country daughters do not argue with their fathers.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I will try harder to control my temper and try to understand Gabriella's point of view but you must understand we are very different. We won't always be able to reach an agreement"

Jack looked unimpressed but gave the signal for Troy and Gabriella to enter the room.

"Hello Alejandro" Gabriella said coolly. "I see you've met Jack. Have you met Lucille?"

"Not yet she's busy in the kitchen."

"I'll just check if she needs a hand" Gabriella said leaving Alejandro with Jack and Troy for a moment. She returned smiling, "Lucille says to take our seats, dinner will be ready momentarily" she said carrying the warm bread rolls to the table.

Jack showed Alejandro to his seat while Troy ducked into the kitchen to help his mother carry in the meal.

Alejandro took charge of the conversation as they passed the platters around and served themselves.

"Troy and Gabriella told me that you teach at their school. Are you one of my daughter's teachers?" Alejandro asked Jack.

"She was in my gym class last semester. But she dropped it for this semester. She's met the minimum requirements to graduate and has no real interest in gym" Jack said cheerfully.

"And do you work Mrs Bolton?"

"Lucille please, yes I'm a real estate agent. My hours are quite flexible but I generally work three or four days a week at this time of year, spring is my busiest time."

"Will it be difficult to have a house guest when you are so busy?"

"Gabriella's not a guest, she's family" Lucille said surprised "and it's never any trouble to have her here."

"Still it might be easier for Gabriella to move in with me" Alejandro suggested.

"I believe she's already told you that she wants to stay here" Jack said "And we're happy to have Troy and Gabriella here with us until they leave for college."

"I want to stay here" Gabriella said forcefully.

"I just think with Lucille so busy in the spring it would be asking too much of her to have a guest in the house. I have a full time housekeeper you would be well cared for in my home. I would be willing to have Troy visit." Alejandro said attempting to calm the situation.

"Why are you trying to take Gabriella away from us even though she's happy here and we're delighted to have her stay?" Lucille demanded visibly upset.

"I believe that a daughter's place is in her father's house and I'm sad that Gabriella doesn't want to live with me. But I can see she is well cared for here with you and if this is what she wants then I will allow her to stay with you."

"Very magnanimous of you" Troy said sarcastically.

Silence settled as everyone ate. "I must compliment your cooking Lucille, this is delicious" Alejandro said

"Thank you, Gabriella assisted with the cooking"

"I didn't know you enjoyed cooking Gabriella" Alejandro said with a smile.

Gabriella shrugged "I enjoy spending time with Lucille. Troy and I will be on our own next year and we're both learning to cook" Gabriella said not giving an inch.

"Tell me what you do enjoy I want to know more about you"

"Why do you keep saying you want to get to know Gabriella when you don't accept who she is and keep trying to change her?" Troy asked frustrated.

I do want to get to know Gabriella but she hasn't given me much opportunity to as yet.

"Why do you keep trying to change who she is?" Troy demanded.

Seeing Alejandro frown in confusion Troy elaborated. "You get upset when she doesn't immediately do what you want. Gabriella isn't one of your Cuban nieces brought up to obey authority without question she's an American young woman who's been taught to think for herself. But you ignore that and get upset when she doesn't behave the way you want."

"You don't even listen to me. Do you care at all about what I want for my life?" Gabriella asked angrily.

"I must admit I barely know what you want from your life" Alejandro said quietly.

"I want to be Troy's wife" Gabriella declared firmly.

"Other than that Gabriella what do you want? Are you going to major in business like your mother and I?" Alejandro asked curiously.

"No I've been accepted into premed. I want to be a doctor" Gabriella replied.

Alejandro looked surprised. "So you have a lot of schooling ahead of you. How is that going to fit with your marriage with Troy?"

"I need to get through four years of college and get into medical school before I need to worry about that" Gabriella said firmly "I have no doubts we'll find a way to manage."

"My plans after college are very flexible at the moment. I will be with Gabriella wherever she decides to go to medical school" Troy agreed.

"What happened between you and Mom to make her leave and go into hiding like she did? Gabriella asked as she played with her meal.

"We grew apart. Our marriage was in trouble and she didn't like the lack of independence that came with being my wife. She wanted to have a career. She went back to college after you were born I didn't take her studies seriously. I thought it was just a way to keep busy. But then she graduated and wanted to get a job. I refused to let my wife work. It would have given my colleagues the impression that my business was in financial trouble. I didn't understand that being a wife and mother wasn't enough for her"

"But why did she go into hiding?"

"In Cuba wives who leave their husbands are not granted custody. She couldn't have obtained work in Cuba, she needed to leave the county to make the life she wanted and she would not legally be allowed to take you with her."

"Why didn't you try to contact us before this? If you could find us now you must have known where we were before this" Gabriella asked sadly.

"I tried at first but every time I tried Maria would pack up and leave again. The constant moving was hurting her career and she was barely making ends meet. Each time I found the two of you your living conditions were worse. I was afraid if I kept approaching you she would do something stupid."

Gabriella sighed, "Why'd you let Mom take me away?"

"I didn't have the time or patience to be a good single father. If you stayed with me you would have spent most of your time with my mother and your aunts. You would have seen very little of me and it didn't seem fair to take you away from the mother that loved you. Maria and I had lots of problems but I never doubted that she loved you with all her heart"

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Neshrox, Kiara and Siobhan for your support.


	131. Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Lucille started to gather up the plates and Jack rose to help carry them into the kitchen leaving Troy and Gabriella alone with Alejandro.

Gabriella decided to use that opportunity to ask Alejandro about the marriage contract. _"Why did you arrange a marriage for me?"_

"Because I believed it was the right thing to do. All the women in my family have been arranged" Alejandro replied with no sign of regret.

"_If it was family tradition why didn't you have an arranged marriage?_" Troy asked curiously while Gabriella tried to recover her temper after Alejandro's refusal to see that marriage contracts were horribly wrong.

"I did. My parents arranged a marriage for me when I was eight. She was a lovely girl four years my junior and I doted on her. She would have made a very suitable wife and I believe we would have been happy. She was killed in a car accident when she was fourteen. My parents were still negotiating for a new bride when I met your mother"

"And they just gave up on the negotiations because you asked them to?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"They were very concerned but I they could see that I was determined to marry Maria. And from their point of view she seemed a good match at the time." Alejandro explained.

"_Then why did you just expect me to go along with whatever you want?_ Gabriella asked crossly.

"None of my nieces questioned their marriage contracts. Most of them were happy to be getting married. I hadn't considered how different their upbringing was to yours and how much affect that had on you."

"You got to choose your own wife and your parents accepted it. _Why _won't you accept my marriage to Troy? Why _are you so angry about me not marrying Eduardo?" _Gabriella demanded_._

"Eduardo has been like a son to me for the last ten years Gabriella. I have dreamed of the two of you marrying. Of him bringing you back to our family. And yes my parents accepted my marriage to Maria at the time but they came to regret allowing me to choose my own wife."

"_Why does it seem you're still trying to set up Gabriella with Eduardo?_" Troy asked.

"I'm sorry that wasn't my intention. I am resigned to the fact that Gabriella will not marry Eduardo though I still believe it would have been a very successful and beneficial alliance for both Eduardo and Gabriella. Eduardo was quite pleased to agree to withdraw from the marriage contract." Alejandro's words were apologetic but his body language didn't indicate genuine regret.

"Successful alliance for you you mean?" Gabriella retorted angrily.

"No Gabriella, the withdrawal from the marriage contract has not hurt my business dealings with Eduardo in the slightest. I believed it would be a good marriage for you."

_Gabriella's happy married to me, why aren't you happy about that?_

"I am glad that she is happy with her life but I'm her father the thought that she would be happier if I wasn't part of her life is very painful. And I worry about what will happen in the future. Very few teen marriages succeed. I feel it would be easier for her to come home with me and return to being a normal teenager"

And yet you were quite happy to marry me off to a complete stranger" Gabriella commented angrily

"To me it is Troy who is the stranger. Eduardo is like a son to me. And Eduardo is not a teenager statistically the probability for success would have been greater with Eduardo than with Troy."

"I'm a person not a freakin' statistic. And I love Troy. Stop trying to break us up."

"Statistics also show that the most common reason for teen marriages to fail was parents and friends trying to get one of the couple to leave their husband or wife and return home" Troy said firmly.

"And that's one of the reasons Troy and Gabriella both have our wholehearted support. I believe this marriage can work and I know Troy would not forgive me if I was the cause of Gabriella leaving him" Jack declared having re-entered the room in time to hear this latest dispute.

"And it isn't going to happen to me and Troy. I'm not leaving him and if you force me to choose between being Troy's wife or being your daughter then goodbye it was nice to have finally met you but I love my husband" Gabriella said firmly ending that line of discussion.

Lucille served the desserts which were eaten in total silence. Alejandro thanked Lucille for the meal and shook Jack's hand, then turned to Troy and Gabriella and hesitated. For once in his life he had no answers. He wanted more than anything to be part of his daughter's life.

"I'm sorry Gabriella. I will stop trying to interfere in your life. I would like the opportunity to get to know you but I understand if you need time to think about it."

"You will accept Troy as my husband? Accept that I live here with the Boltons? Accept that I make my own decisions?" Gabriella demanded.

"Yes Gabriella it will be difficult at times but I will work on accepting that you're your own person. That I don't have the right to make decisions that affect your life without your consent." Alejandro said seriously.

"Are you going to stay in Albuquerque?" Gabriella asked

"I will be here until you finish high school whether you want to see me again or not. I hope that you will be able to forgive me."

"I need time to think about it" Gabriella admitted.

"Well I'll get out of your way now so you can relax" Alejandro said. He turned to Troy and shook his hand. "Please look after my daughter" he requested.

"I will" Troy promised.

"Call me when you're ready to talk again" he said taking Gabriella's hand and kissing the back of it.

Gabriella nodded and closed the door behind her father.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Neshrox. Kiara and Siobhan for your support.


	132. Chapter 132

Chapter 132

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters.

They all heaved a sigh of relief as the door shut behind Alejandro. Lunch had gone well and Gabriella now had most of the answers she needed but the whole event was emotionally exhausting.

Gabriella moved to help Lucille who was half-heartedly clearing the table while Jack and Troy began on the dishes. They worked quietly each lost in their thoughts and soon the house was tidy.

"I think I might go up and have a lie down" Gabriella said tiredly.

"That sounds like a good idea do you want to be alone or would you like me to join you?" Troy asked carefully not wanting to upset her.

"I would like that" she said almost shyly. "But doesn't your Dad want you to go out and practice?"

Jack had headed outside to shoot some hoops. "Nah he's not practicing just blowing off some steam it's how he processes stuff. It's best to leave him alone for a while when he's like that" Troy replied.

"I hope the noise won't keep you awake Gabriella" Lucille commented. "I could ask him to head over to the park" she offered.

Gabriella laughed, "Don't worry Lucille the sound of a basketball is way too familiar to disturb me." She and Troy headed upstairs while Lucille turned on the TV and indulged in her favourite mindless pastime, re-watching old episodes of friends.

Troy entered the room and immediately began stripping. On seeing Gabriella's concerned face he said. "Don't worry I just don't want to sleep in these jeans, I'll put some sweats on if you like."

"You'll be too hot to sleep" Gabriella commented before turning her back to him. "Can you unzip me?" she asked.

"With pleasure" Troy said slowly unzipping the dress kissing his way down the exposed skin as he did so.

"Troy" Gabriella giggled protesting.

"Am I tickling you? I'm sorry" Troy said sounding anything but apologetic.

"Yes so stop" Gabriella said as firmly as she could while still squirming. She pulled on one of "Troy's T-shirts that came to mid thigh in her and shimmied out of the dress giving Troy an unintentional view of her bum as she bent to pick it up.

Troy was tempted to wolf whistle and probably would have if his mother wasn't home and Gabriella wasn't already overwrought. Instead he turned back the bed and put his clothes away like Gabriella always wanted him to.

Gabriella was sitting on the side of the bed lost in thought so Troy climbed behind her and started massaging her shoulders waiting for her to confide in him.

"Did you believe him?" Gabriella asked.

"Alejandro? What don't you believe?" Troy asked confused.

"That he's ready to change his attitude and accept our marriage and stop trying to interfere in my life and make decisions for me?" Gabriella clarified.

Troy thought for a moment, "I believe Alejandro meant it when he said it" he said slowly "but I don't know whether he'll really be able to change his behaviour so easily. Like he said he's used to the women in his life accepting his word as law."

"Do you think he even wants to try?" Gabriella asked dejectedly.

"He seems sincere when he says he wants to get to know you. And he did change his mind about accepting that you want to live here with me and Mom and Dad. I didn't expect him to do that" Troy offered.

"I don't know what to do?" Gabriella confessed.

"Well you don't have to make a decision today Gabi, leave it for now. Wait til you can think it over calmly. Lie down and rest" Troy encourages pulling her back to lie next to him and pulling the blankets over them before wrapping his arms around her and closing is eyes.

"Are you asleep?" Gabriella whispered after about ten minutes.

"No just enjoying holding you" Troy replied drowsily.

Gabriella grinned and decided not to wake him up properly; she laid her head on his chest as they both drifted off to sleep.

The room was filled with late afternoon sun when they woke.

Troy woke to his wife gently kissing his cheek, he opened his eyes and turned his head to kiss her mouth. "Good morning beautiful" he said quietly.

Gabriella laughed "It's nearly tea time" she said.

"So it's still Sunday evening?" he asked as he woke up properly.

It always amused Gabriella that Troy could open his eyes and speak to her sounding so awake while he was still half asleep. She rarely got to see it because he was normally up so much earlier to exercise.

"MmHmm" Gabriella agreed. "I like waking up in your arms" she commented.

"I'm sorry we can't do it all the time" Troy apologised.

Gabriella immediately regretted the comment knowing Troy would feel guilty when it really was out of his control. He had to run in the morning to maintain his fitness for Basketball otherwise he would struggle to cope with the training schedule his college coaches would demand of him.

"It's probably for the best" she said trying to ease his guilt, "if we woke up together every morning we'd never get up in time for school."

"Hmm" Troy agreed leaning down to kiss Gabriella lightly. Gabriella deepened the kiss running her hands through Troy's hair.

Troy groaned as desire swept through him, trying hard to keep control. He started running basketball setups in his head to distract himself as Gabriella ran her hands down his back before groping his ass pulling him tightly against her. She broke the kiss as she felt Troy's erection pressing into her stomach. "Sorry Troy, do you want me to stop?" she murmured.

Troy was very tempted to say no and let his desire take its course "No but you should anyway" he admitted.

"Jack and Lucille are both downstairs" Gabriella said rolling them over so she was lying on top of him. Troy took this as an invitation and moved his hands to hold her bum. He tried to keep himself from thrusting against her.

Gabriella could see the effort in his face "It's okay Troy, let yourself go. Just try not to be too loud" she encouraged.

"You're sure" Troy said almost shaking with the tension of holding still.

"Yes"

This was all Troy needed he thrust twice coming hard, gritting his teeth to keep from shouting his release.

Gabriella watched the expressions crossing his face enjoying seeing Troy lose control and the satiated and loving smile that followed.

"Thankyou" Troy whispered as he returned to his senses. "Damn" he swore seeing the mess covering them both as he got up. "Looks like I have to run to the bathroom" he said blushing as he looked at his now flaccid penis that had worked its way through the slit in his boxers. He pulled off his underwear and used them to clean himself up before pulling on a clean pair and t-shirt. He returned with a warm facecloth and handed it to Gabriella.

Instead of taking it Gabriella pushed the sheet away "Can you clean me up?" she asked blushing madly.

Troy smiled gently and kissed her cheek before slowly cleaning up Gabriella's stomach he carefully removed the dirtied T-shirt off her and covered her with the sheet as he got a clean one out of the drawer and sat her up to pull it over her head.

"Thankyou" Gabriella said still blushing.

"You don't have to push yourself like that you know" Troy replied taking both her hands. "I don't want you to make yourself uncomfortable."

"I feel silly being so shy in front of you. And I know it upsets you at times."

"Gabriella it's fine" Troy protested.

"Is it really. Can you say that you won't be disappointed if I'm still like this in a year or two?" Gabriella asked earnestly.

Troy remained silent, he couldn't honestly say that he didn't wish Gabriella was more comfortable with her body. "I don't want you to force it. I would like you to be more confident but more than anything I want you to be comfortable with me. If that means that you wear a shirt to bed every night for the rest of our lives that's okay. I would rather that than have you force yourself to walk around nude and secretly hate seeing me look at you" he said in the end.

Gabriella hugged him tightly. "I love you" she said happily.

"I love you too Gabriella. The only thing you ever need to do to make me happy is to be honest with me."

"Of course I'm honest with you"

"I know you never lie to me. I mean you need to be honest with the way you're feeling with your actions as well" Troy reassured her. "Please don't force yourself to act in any way you don't feel like being."

"Okay I'll try harder" Gabriella promised.

"No I don't want you to try at all. I want you to be yourself as you are now. I fell in love with you Gabriella, not some exhibitionist cheerleader." Troy disagreed kissing her cheek.

"Do you want to get up and have dinner?" asked Gabriella knowing that even though she wasn't hungry Troy probably would be.

"Soon" Troy agreed lying back down with Gabriella still in his arms.

"If you sleep anymore now you won't sleep tonight" Gabriella protested.

"I don't want to sleep just cuddle up" he retorted cheekily tickling her slightly.

"Troy" she squealed squirming.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and Kiara for your support.


	133. Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They eventually made their way downstairs for dinner. Lucille was in the kitchen making toasted cheese sandwiches for herself and Jack.

"Hello. I'd begun to think you were going to sleep through the night" she said to lighten the atmosphere.

"You really thought Troy could sleep through a meal?" Gabriella asked amused.

"Well no when you put it like that" Lucille laughed. "Would you like me to make you both a sandwich" she offered.

"No I'll make them" Troy replied. "You eat yours while it's hot."

"Thank you Troy" Lucille said as she finished and carried the sandwiches into the lounge where Jack was watching Basketball on the TV.

Gabriella began buttering the bread as Troy got the ham and cheese out of the fridge and assembled the sandwiches.

"You know for all the effort we put into making lunch, these are just as good" Gabriella commented finishing her sandwich and stealing one of Troy's.

"You were too worked up to eat at lunch" Troy replied handing over another sandwich.

"At this rate I'll have to make some more for you" Gabriella commented.

"What do you want to do when we finish eating? Do you want to go for a walk?" Troy asked.

"Actually I have some homework to look over. I was a bit distracted when I did it the first time and it probably needs to be redone" she answered.

Troy nodded "I have some work I should do too" he admitted. "But I think I might go for a quick run first."

Gabriella smiled "Yes you've spent too much time today sitting and lying still. Go run the kinks out" she encouraged him.

"It was late by the time they'd both finished their work and got ready for bed.

"How is Gabriella coping with the revelations yesterday?" Jack asked as he and Troy ran as usual the next morning.

"She doesn't know what to think. She was glad to find out more about him but she can't quite believe that he will stop trying to make decisions for her. She's tired of fighting with him" Troy explained. "I don't know how to help her."

Jack shrugged as much as he could while running "You help by not doing what he did. Let her make her own decisions and support whatever she decides to do"

"I know but it doesn't seem enough" Troy replied.

"It won't be easy Troy but that's all you can do" Jack said encouragingly.

"Yeah" said Troy dejectedly.

He remembered Gabriella's comment and hurried through his shower hoping to be able to get back into bed before her alarm went off, He didn't quite make it but was able to silence the alarm as soon as it made a noise and kiss Gabriella awake.

"Good Morning my love" he said as she opened her eyes.

"You're showered already. Am I late?" she asked in alarm.

"No I got back a little early, your alarm has just gone off" he replied smiling and kissing her again before letting her up.

"Come on. We can't stay here all day, we've got Darbus first this morning" he said.

Gabriella's friends cornered her during free period wanting to know how the meal with Alejandro had gone. Troy was at Basketball practice and the girls commandeered the empty music room.

"On the surface it went quite well" Gabriella said thoughtfully. "Alejandro didn't threaten Troy or the Bolton's, he's agreed to let me stay with them as if he had a choice about that, and he says he'll stop trying to make decisions for me and let me live my own life"

"Then what's the problem?" Taylor asked knowing that the words Gabriella was using in no way matched her body language and expression as she talked.

"I don't know whether to believe him" Gabriella complained.

"He's never lied to you before" Kelsi reminded her.

"He pulled that stunt with the restaurant bookings" Gabriella reminded them doubtfully.

"Yeah that was low" Martha agreed. "But he didn't tell you an actual lie about it. You just both wilfully misunderstood each other. Alejandro invited you to dinner and you included Troy when you accepted. He ignored your answer telling him you expected Troy to come with you and you ignored the fact that you knew Troy wasn't actually invited."

"So you think he wasn't lying?" Gabriella asked hesitantly.

"I think the evidence indicates that he did mean what he was saying" Taylor said carefully.

"Yeah that's what Troy thought too. That Alejandro meant it at the time he said it but it is too soon to know if he means it long term."

"That's surprisingly perceptive of Troy" Taylor commented teasingly.

"Hey" Gabriella and Kelsi both protested.

Martha laughed knowing that Taylor wasn't seriously insulting Troy. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see. Are you going to give him a chance to get to know you better?" she asked Gabriella to distract her from Taylor's comment.

"I don't know. Troy suggested I try not to think about it for a day or two until I calm down and can consider things logically." Gabriella replied.

"That's good advice" Martha said before Taylor could make another sarcastic comment.

Talk moved then to upcoming school activities and the bell soon rang for them to return to class.

It took nearly two weeks for Gabriella to come to a decision over Alejandro. In the end she realised that if she chose to spend time with him for them to get to know each other she could change her mind later if Alejandro started to try to control her life again but if she told him that she didn't want to see him again at the moment she might never get the opportunity in future.

She started by texting him regularly discussing various issues in the news and events happening at school.

She rarely rang knowing that his secretary wouldn't put her through but Alejandro often rang in return to her texts.

They met for lunch with Taylor Martha Kelsi and Ryan one day Troy was busy and Alejandro came to her next scholastic decathlon meet sitting with Troy and Jack as Lucille had been unable to make it.

It did take time and effort but in the end Gabriella was glad that he was part of her life. She rarely asked him for advice and he was careful never to offer it unasked but they established a relationship built on mutual respect and affection if not love.

It was actually Jack that became the true father figure in her life, the one she trusted to go to for advice and encouragement. The four Bolton's had become a true family in every good sense of the word.

Gabriella's relationship with Troy continued to go well. They were happy together though their private time was limited by their busy schedules.

The end.

A/N: There will be a sequel that is mostly written but doesn't quite fit here.

It will be called "Planning for the Future" which I will start posting in the next week.

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed or followed me for your support.

In particular I'd like to thank Wildcats2016, Kiara and Pumpkinking5 for their constant support throughout this story and Wilcats2016, Pumpkinking5, Kiara and Siobhan for reviewing the last chapter.


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